Finding Mr Perfect
by Rapture-Taylore
Summary: One drunken night Sakura describes her ideal boyfriend to her friends not knowing the consequences. As Sasuke is born out of her imagination and is everything she wants in a man Sakura's life begins to look up until he begins to develop a life of his own.
1. Chapter 1

Warning: Due to the nature of this story, as described in the summary, Sasuke will be very out of character at the beginning.

* * *

There weren't many disasters Sakura Haruno faced in her life. She was always punctual, so she never found herself rushing to get anywhere, she was organised and never really forgot anything. It was a trait people most admired about her. However, as one who was so used to having so much control in her life Sakura found it difficult when something came crashing down without warning or a clear reason.

Sakura was even organised in her private life. She never failed to turn up on time for a night out with her friends, as long as she had enough warning that is, and always made time in her life for the people that were important to her, her friends, family and of course her significant other.

She had always made time for the men in her life, she went out with them to restaurants and bars and day trips, she talked to his friends when she met them, and tried her best to fit into his already established lifestyle. Sakura was happy, and from their attitude she believed that he had been as well, he had been kind and attentive when they started seeing each other but like all other men Sakura had dated he became more distant and began to expect certain things of her, some things Sakura never minded as she always had to do things like visit their parents on a certain day of the month or prepare a meal on a specific day each week. It was part of an organised routine that Sakura was content to live by.

But when out of the blue he had decided to end their relationship Sakura's organised life ended and instead of preparing a meal for him for that day he had always he visited that week Sakura found herself slumped of her living room sofa surrounded by friends, alcohol and snack food.

"I just don't understand it" Sakura said reaching out for a handful of crisps "He didn't even say why he wanted to break up with me, just that he felt it was time we went our separate ways, what does that even mean?"

"He's bored of you?" Ino suggested and was glared at by Tenten "Yes I know, he's a self-righteous bastard who never deserved you in the first place Sakura" She said to try and make her friend feel better "but look on the bright side you can find someone better now"

"There is no one better" Sakura muttered "all men are the same"

"Lazy?" Ino asked.

"Confusing" Hinata added and Sakura shook her head for both of them.

"A waste of space" Tenten said and Sakura shook her head again before taking another gulp of her drink.

"They're all lying scum" She said with some difficultly as Ino poured more alcohol into her glass.

"Don't you think you should put lemonade or something in that?" Hinata asked with some concern and Ino shook her head.

"She won't notice if she drinks it straight of not, look at her, this is the one time Sakura loses control and it's fun" She said and Hinata rolled her eyes and poured some lemonade in Sakura's glass regardless of what Ino said. "Spoilsport" Ino muttered.

"What do you mean he's bored of me?" Sakura asked suddenly picking up on the comment Ino had made earlier. Ino shrugged and took a sip of her own drink.

"Maybe he wants a spontaneous girlfriend that will eventually and spontaneously cheat on him with his best friend, which will serve him right anyway" Ino said.

"Or maybe we're all being a little harsh" Hinata said as Sakura scowled slightly at the thought of this.

"Yeah" Ino said "Maybe he was secretly engaged and had a crisis of conscious and doesn't want you to be the other woman anymore"

"You're not exactly helping here" Tenten hissed and Ino gave her a flat look.

"She's drunk" Ino insisted pointing as Sakura who was swaying slightly where she sat "for one thing she probably doesn't comprehend what I'm saying for another thing she needs to get over him and move on anyway, you know she needs to find someone better"

"How?" Sakura asked suddenly laying a hand of Ino's arm suddenly "How can you still use all those big words, com-pre-hend" Sakura repeated slowly she looked from Tenten to Ino to Hinata "Did I say that right?" She asked looking pleased with herself.

"Oh god" Tenten muttered "It's a week day, she has work tomorrow, we need to sober her up"

"She'll be fine" Ino said airily and Tenten looked at her in disbelief.

"Would you like to go into work after drinking all she has?" Tenten asked and Ino gave her a blank look.

"I have done that" She said and Hinata giggled as Tenten glared at Ino.

"I think Sakura is more dedicated to her job than you are Ino though" She said and Ino sighed slightly.

"I know, I know" She said "I'll get her some water" Ino muttered before getting up and going into Sakura's small kitchen. Sakura sighed suddenly and flopped back in her chair looking up at the ceiling.

"This is stupid" She said with some difficulty seemingly having to concentrate a lot on her words "I really liked him and despite all our differences it seemed to be working out until now, if he'd've just been honest and said it didn't seem to be working weeks ago then it would have saved me a lot of trouble" She took the glass of water Ino handed her and stared at it for a bit until she obediently drank some of it when Hinata prompted her.

"Sakura", Tenten said sympathetically "I'm sure in time you'll meet someone amazing, he didn't deserve you that's all" Sakura snorted.

"You're all bound to say that you're my friends" She muttered and drank some more water.

"It's true" Hinata said "I believe that there's someone for everyone you just have to be strong and keep looking Sakura" Sakura gave her a small smile.

"Thanks Hinata" She said softly feeling touched by her words.

"So what are you looking for in your special someone Sakura?" Tenten asked curiously "Maybe we can look out for them for you"

"We can kidnap them and force them to meet you" Ino muttered but Hinata shushed her.

"Hmm" Sakura looked thoughtful "I'd like to be with someone kind, considerate, they'd have to make me laugh, someone who'd understand me and accept me the way I am without wanting me to change and most of all I'd want them to be honest"

"Does he actually do the washing up though?" Ino joked and Sakura laughed slightly.

"I don't think I'll ask for that miracle in a man" She said and Hinata smiled.

"But is he tall, dark and handsome?" Tenten asked and Sakura grinned.

"Of course" She said "I've always wanted to meet a tall, dark, handsome stranger who would somehow sweep me off my feet" They all laughed and Sakura felt herself relaxing ever so slightly as, although it was late, and she'd had far too much to drink considering she had work in the morning, she felt that with her friends company and support she was able to let her feelings for him go and move on. It was like Hinata had said, there was someone for everyone somewhere she'd just have to go and find him.

A strange wind blew round and rattled the windows of Sakura's house it seemed to hesitate as it encircled the building before moving on it blew down and empty alleyway as clusters of shining lights moved as thoughts gathered and focused on one point. As Sakura sat describing her ideal man those ideas took shape until the wind moved and blew on leaving a stranger in its place; he was tall, definitely handsome and had dark hair and eyes fitting the joked description of Sakura's ideal boyfriend.

He stood awkwardly for a few moments as if trying to recollect something as the wind moved on giving the man a name and place in the real world slowly editing reality so the man had been recorded in schools, had memories and achievements like everyone else and the only thing that set him apart was the knowledge that he was created, a connection to the one who did it and no heartbeat because despite everything that had happened wishful thinking could not create a real human.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura woke the next day feeling slightly unsteady from the amount she had drunk the night before. She frowned before realising that the reason she had woken up was because the constant noise of her alarm clock had finally caused her to wake up she blearily looked at the clock face and sat up instantly, wide awake when she saw that she had to leave in less than ten minutes.

After muttering a few choice curse words Sakura hobbled unsteadily between her room, bathroom and kitchen trying to do about five things at once to be ready to leave in record time, she was thankful that she had already sorted out what she needed for work today and had it near the door, there was something to say for being organised even if her friends, Ino especially, had insisted that she was walking the fine line between being an organised person and a control freak.

She dashed out of the house and managed to get to work on time, somehow arriving a few minutes before she was due in to work. She hurried past the reception area where patients sat waiting to see someone.

"Good morning" Sakura said sounding slightly out of breath and Shizune glanced up from her folders to greet her.

"Morning Sakura, you seem to be in a hurry" She said brightly.

"I overslept so I was running late" Sakura said sheepishly and Shizune looked shocked.

"Really, that's not like you at all Sakura" She said and Sakura gave her a sad smile.

"Yeah, well I had a bit of a bad day yesterday that's all" She said softly and Shizune frowned slightly but decided not to press any further.

"Okay then, there's a few people you should check up on first" Shizune said flicking through the pile of files she was carrying "Here, Mr Inuzuka and Mr Lee just have a quick look in before you look at any new patients" Sakura nodded as she glance down at the patients records to remind herself what they were in the hospital for.

Sakura stretched slightly as she headed over to the rooms they were in; luckily they were both in the same area so she didn't have to walk from one side of the hospital to the other. Sakura enjoyed her job despite the long hours of study and dedication it took her to become a doctor she knew it was worth it when she got her first full time job in this hospital, it was insanely busy at times and on occasion she had to work through the nights still but she liked being able to met all sorts of different people and help them get on with their ordinary lives after a brief stint in hospital.

She arrived at Rock Lee's room first; she had seen him earlier that week and he had somehow damaged the muscles in his leg. She paused slightly outside the door as she remembered that he had quite an eccentric personality and generally didn't listen to the nurse's advice to take it easy. Sakura sighed and squared her shoulders before entering the room with a cheery smile on her face.

"Good morning Mr Lee, I'm here to check up on you" She said brightly and he flashed her an enthusiastic smile.

"Dr Haruno, you look beautiful today" He said and Sakura's smile became slightly fixed.

"That's very kind of you to say so" She said "now let's have a look at you" She flipped through the medical records she had been given and began asking questions about how he was feeling as a routine check up.

"So it looks like the medicine is working" Sakura said briskly "You'll be out of here in no time but you'll still have to rest at home and not put too much strain on that leg okay?" She added firmly "you don't want to be back after a few weeks of being discharged do you?" Lee shook his head slightly.

"I guess not" He said and then brightened "unless of course I get to see you again" Sakura started slightly at his persistence and tried to smile.

"I can't make any promises about that so it's best not to risk it I think" She said "now if you'll excuse me there'll be a nurse round to give you all the form and get you out of here, I have to get going" She made a move towards the door and then Lee's voice stopped her.

"Hey" He called out and she turned towards him slightly "You really are beautiful I don't think before you took me seriously" Sakura made a noise to protest but he cut her off again. "Would you go out with me sometime?" He asked and Sakura faltered, her immediate reaction was an outright 'no' but she knew that she'd have to try and turn him down more gently than that.

"I'm sorry that's not possible at the moment" She said "Now if you'll excuse me I have other things to do"

"Okay" Lee said seeming unperturbed by her rejection "Next time then" Sakura froze outside the door as he didn't seem to understand that she actually had meant never, she never usually considered herself shallow although she knew that she'd rather date an attractive man than one that wasn't, although it wasn't just Lee's physical appearance that put her off him. For one thing it would be unprofessional of her, she mused, and for another the fact that he seemed overly keen and far too willing to shower her with compliments when she entered the room always made her wonder if he sincerely meant them.

Sakura came to the next room of her remaining patients and realised that she was about to have another interesting encounter. Mr Inuzuka, or just Kiba as he seemed to prefer had been in and out of hospital for a while, Sakura had gathered that he worked with wild animals and not all of them were keen to have any human contact so Kiba had often been in for injections or the odd injury.

"Hello Kiba, how are you today?" Sakura asked as she entered the room and Kiba set down the magazine he had been flicking through.

"Better thanks, how about you?" He asked and Sakura shrugged.

"So-so" She said and Kiba smiled at her.

"Well I hope you have a good day anyway, are you going to tell me some good news today?" He asked "Can I go free and back to my job" Sakura looked at him sceptically.

"I doubt it but let's have a look at you anyway" She said and Kiba looked slightly put out.

Sakura's spirits lifted as they day went on she dealt with many different people and was able to spend some time talking to Shizune as two of the more senior doctors, Tsunade and Chiyo argued about the best way to treat one of the more problematic patients and she stayed late to try and finish off some of the forms she had to fill out. Because of this Sakura was in a hurry to get home and as her mind drifted onto other things she wasn't watching where she was going and collided with someone on the street.

"Ah I'm so sorry I didn't see you" Sakura said hurriedly as she crouched down to see if the person was alright.

"No don't worry its fine" They said and Sakura looked at the young man across from her and felt herself getting even more embarrassed "I wasn't really looking where I was going" He continued and Sakura frowned slightly as he winced when he moved the hand he had fallen on.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked feeling concerned as she felt that she had been the one who had knocked him down.

"Really its fine" He said with a smile as he looked around as if he was searching for something then he looked up at her as if he had suddenly realised something, although Sakura didn't notice this as she was more focused on his arm which he was holding slightly awkwardly.

"Let me see" She said and reached out to hold his wrist, she noted with a strange sense of satisfaction that he winced when she did so "liar" she said suppressing a smile "it does hurt." The man let her examine his arm and Sakura frowned slightly as she noticed that it had become slightly swollen. "Can you try to move your fingers and then your wrist" She instructed and watched his face as he cautiously moved as he was asked to and saw him try to hide how uncomfortable it must have felt for him.

Sakura sighed as she looked down at the stranger's arm that she still held gently, she supposed she could always escort him to the hospital but she had just left that place and she knew that if she returned to it she'd just get sucked into another doctor's problem and end up staying there for another hour or so.

"You need to put ice on that, try to keep it elevated at the moment" Sakura said distractedly as she tried to think of any other possibilities "If you come with me I can sort that out for you" He looked up at her curiously through his dark hair as if he was weighing something up in his mind then he gave her a warm smile.

"Sure" He said and he got to his feet being careful not to use his injured arm and Sakura gently led him toward her home. She fumbled slightly with her keys as she was overcome with paranoia at the thought of letting a stranger into her home but he stood patiently and quietly behind her as she fiddled with the lock on the door and sat him down in the small kitchen as she rummaged through her freezer for an icepack. Sakura surveyed him as she wrapped the icepack in a spare tea towel, he was tall and good looking, the type of person that if she'd collided with in her younger years she would have been torn between mortally embarrassed and overjoyed at meeting, however unorthodoxly, such an attractive person.

"Here you are then" Sakura said as she took his hand and pressed the icepack against the majority of the swelling he winced slightly and Sakura gave him an apologetic smile "Sorry" she said quickly and he watched her curiously.

"I guess it was lucky that I bumped into someone who knew how to deal with this kind of thing" He said after a while indicating his wrist and Sakura smiled as she examined it to see if it looked less swollen.

"I guess it was" Sakura mused "Could you keep holding thing on" She asked nodding at the icepack "I'll go and find a bandage or something" He nodded and Sakura watched him for a moment to make sure he was doing it correctly before she turned and left the man in the kitchen.

The man looked around the kitchen before turning his attention towards the doorway Sakura had disappeared through seemingly to anticipate her return. Sakura returned after a few moments and this time she sat down on the chair opposite him and set the roll of bandages on the table.

"Let's have another look then" She said and he extended his hand towards her, she gave a muttered thanks and, as the worst of the swelling seemed to have gone down, she began tightly wrapping the roll of bandage around his wrist to try and give it some support she secured it in place and gave the man a warm smile.

"There we are then" She said "Try not to use it too much you should be alright in a few weeks just be careful with it" He gave her a smile in return and Sakura tried not to seem too flustered by it and they fell into an awkward silence.

"So you are?" He asked suddenly and Sakura paused for a moment before she realise he was asking for her name.

"Sakura Haruno" She said and he nodded thoughtfully and then stood up making Sakura feel slightly dwarfed by his height.

"I'm sorry for intruding on you Sakura" He said politely and Sakura found herself going slightly pink with embarrassment and she was frustrated that it started happening now of all times. "Will you let me make it up with you; can I take you out to dinner tomorrow night?" He continued and Sakura nodded slightly without really thinking which made him grin at her "Great, shall I pick you up from here then?" Sakura nodded again and then she cleared her throat to try and get herself to talk.

"You can pick me up at seven if you want" She said finally and he nodded.

"Sounds good to me" He said and then they fell silent again before he spoke again "Well I suppose I shouldn't trespass on your time any longer, I'll see you tomorrow though"

"Yes" Sakura said quietly as she walked him to the door they paused momentarily in the doorway looking at each other and Sakura tried not to look too uncomfortable under his gaze as she looked right back at him. He smiled suddenly as if guessing that Sakura was almost trying to outstare him and Sakura looked away hurriedly to open the door. As the man move out into Sakura's front porch Sakura stopped him with a hand on his arm as she realised something.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch your name" She said and the man paused slightly as if considering something.

"Sasuke Uchiha, I guess" He said and Sakura frowned slightly at the odd reply.

"Well then Sasuke, I'll see you later then" She said and Sasuke nodded as she closed the door. He paused slightly outside wondering if it was okay to say that, he didn't really have a name as it obviously wasn't a requirement for someone who was created by someone who had been feeling quite lonely at the time, although somehow the name came into his head and seemed to fit.

The newly named Sasuke sighed and moved off the step on Sakura's front door and began to leave, at least he had found her, that doctor Sakura Haruno who had brought him into the world without a second thought, without even realising that the strength of her emotions had done something miraculous. Sakura Haruno who was somehow still drawing him to her, he could somehow feel where she was in the back of his mind and had been searching for the source of that sensation all day when that had, luckily, run into each other. Sasuke gently touched the bandages Sakura had wrapped around his wrist and smiled slightly, she was kind anyway so that was something he'd rather not have someone obnoxious in the back of his head.

Sasuke stopped dead in the street and frowned causing some people to 'tsk' and have to make their way around him causing them to lose a few seconds of their time. He stood concentrating on Sakura's presence and he noticed that there was something else now, as if their close proximity had made the connection between them stronger, he could tell she was excited and looking forward to tomorrow night as he focused entirely on Sakura he found he could tell other things about her as a flood on information rushed into his head, her likes and dislikes, everything he needed to become her ideal man entirely. Sasuke smiled sadly as he could almost see her in his mind standing by the door still her heart racing in excitement and anticipation, he wondered what it felt like to have that feeling the strange sensation of having something constantly beating a rhythm inside you but that was what set him apart from real people in a way it was as if he didn't have a choice, his heart already belonged to Sakura.

Sakura stood with her back resting against her front door as she began to wonder just what had happened in her kitchen. It was probably a bit rash to agree to see Sasuke so soon after she had broken up with her boyfriend but then again she reflected it wasn't mean to be a date or anything just something to say thank you and it was a bit rash anyway to take him into her home in the first place and nothing bad had happened.

It seemed unreal that he would even want to thank her that way and Sakura frowned as she realised that she would have to change her plans as she wanted to spend that evening catching up on her housework but strangely enough she felt too flustered to be bothered by her sudden change of plans when usually it would annoy her. Still having a 24 hour warning was more than Ino gave her when she felt Sakura needed to loosen up and she could easily do it tonight. Sakura sighed and placed her hand above her heart feeling it beating quickly beneath her palm, she couldn't deny that she was a bit excited about it after all.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Sakura woke up feeling a mixture of excitement and apprehensiveness, it took her a moment to identify where those feelings had come from and then she recalled the events of the day before when she had knocked Sasuke down and he had subsequently asked her to dinner.

Sakura stretched and got up to get ready to face the day, as usual she was up early with plenty of time to get ready to go to the hospital, the rush from yesterday had made her set her alarm clock ten minutes earlier just in case although despite her precautions she was ready for work with time to spare.

Her time at work passed slowly although she always seemed to be busy it took a long time for her shift to end although despite this Sakura still had time to drop in to see how Kiba was doing and to give him a few things to read as he seemed thoroughly bored with being in the hospital by now. She left work after a day of restless activity, being unable to concentrate on one single thing Sakura had flitted from patient to patient in the wards in an attempt to settle. Sakura walked briskly home as she could feel the anxiety towards the evening ahead bubbling in the pit of her stomach as she didn't know what to make of it. She still had an hour or so to get ready but she jumped in the shower as soon as she was home to get rid of the chemical smell of her skin.

When she ambled down stairs later in some old clothes towel drying her hair Sakura noticed the light on her answer phone blinking, she frowned slightly wondering who or what it could be and pressed to button to play the message.

"Hey Sakura" Ino's voice called cheerily out into the room "Where are you anyway? I was just wondering if you wanted to go out tonight, you know and do something fun" Sakura rolled her eyes slightly, typical Ino, always organising things at the last minute but at least now she had a legitimate excuse to get out of whatever mayhem her friend had planned for the evening. She sighed as she keyed in Ino's phone number and debated with herself whether it was wise to tell her she had arranged to meet a man that night.

"Hello?" Ino asked as she picked up the phone and Sakura decided that it would be easier to tell her the whole truth than try and fob her off with half truths.

"Hey Ino" Sakura said brightly and she paused slightly as the other girl began telling her what she wanted to do that evening and now, feeling slightly guilty, Sakura cut her off "I'm sorry Ino I can't make it" She said quietly and there was a stunned silence.

"What do you mean? I know you usually prefer a little more warning but what's wrong with a little spontaneity for once, be the Sakura you used to be" Ino demanded and Sakura frowned slightly at her words.

"I know but you should be proud of me I was quite spontaneous yesterday and that's why I've got plans tonight, I'm meeting someone" Sakura said and this time there was an even longer pause and Sakura cringed slightly as she knew she was probably going to be on the receiving end of some kind of verbal tirade.

"Is this a date?" Ino said and her voice became rather shrill in her excitement "Sakura are you meeting a boy?" She teased and Sakura sighed.

"I don't know Ino, some stuff happened yesterday with, yes, a boy and he asked me out to dinner as a thank you I don't know what it is it doesn't matter anyway" Sakura said vaguely.

"When are you going out?" Ino asked and Sakura looked around for a clock.

"I don't know, in about an hour I guess" She said vaguely

"Are you ready then? What are you wearing?" Ino asked excitedly.

"I'm not sure yet" Sakura said and there was a disapproving silence down the phone "I don't want to be too dressed up" She continued and the nervousness she had been feeling all day began to return.

"Well I'll leave you to it" Ino said doubtfully "but you'll have to call me sometime and tell me how it goes, you know if it turns out to be a date or not" She added suggestively and Sakura flushed at the thought of being in a romantic setting with Sasuke.

"It won't be a date" Sakura said suddenly wanting to voice her hopes and fears for the evening "He's probably just being polite"

"Sakura" Ino reprimanded her "don't be so pessimistic you might be surprised"

"I'm not pretty enough for him" Sakura said and then even though Ino couldn't see her she hid her face in her free hand "I can't believe I said that, this is stupid I shouldn't even be worrying about these things it's just dinner and I'll see how he is considering I injured him the other day that's it" She said firmly.

"You what?" Ino asked and Sakura laughed slightly.

"Goodbye Ino I'll tell you everything later, I promise" She said setting the phone down. "Now to just find something to wear" She muttered grabbing the forgotten towel and heading back upstairs again.

Sasuke rang her doorbell at exactly seven which surprised Sakura and she hurried downstairs pulling her shoes onto her feet, she paused when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror in her hallway and decided that she looked alright even if it was too late to change her appearance anyway. She smiled at Sasuke as she opened the door.

"You're punctual" She said "I was expecting you to spend longer trying to find the house as you've only been here once before" Sasuke gave her a half smile.

"I've got a good memory I suppose" He said unable to explain that for some inexplicable reason he'd always know where Sakura was. She frowned slightly at his vague sentence it was something she had notice before that he seemed to speak as if he was unsure about himself although he seemed confident about everything else. He smiled suddenly and Sakura found herself smiling back "Shall we go?" He asked and she grabbed her bag and shut and locked her front door.

"Where are we going?" She asked and Sasuke looked thoughtful.

"There's a nice looking restaurant not too far from here" He said "According to the signs outside its famous for its deserts"

"Sounds good to me" Sakura said and they walked in silence for a while. Sakura leaned forward and looked at his injured arm; she could just about see the bandage from under the sleeves of his jacket. Sasuke saw what she was doing and gave her an inquisitive look.

"I was just wondering how you're arm was" She said sheepishly and Sasuke lifted his arm, pushing back his sleeve so she could look at the, now slightly worn, bandage.

"Its fine you did a good job" He said and Sakura gave him a quick smile "How do you know about how to treat sprains then" He asked curiously.

"Oh, I never said, I'm a doctor" Sakura said and Sasuke raised his eyebrows "So I know how to treat more than just sprains" She teased and Sasuke grinned.

"What got you into that then?" He asked seeming genuinely curious about her.

"I wanted to be able to do something useful really, after all my friends had such grand plans about things they wanted to do with their lives and going into medicine seemed like a good idea at the time" She said, trailing off slightly as she realised she couldn't really express the way she felt about her job easily.

"Well you must enjoy it to keep doing it" Sasuke said quietly and Sakura smiled again as he seemed to understand that now it was so much more than something she had 'fallen into'.

"It's amazing, you meet so many different people and it's nice to be able to make a difference in their lives" Sakura said her eyes shining and Sasuke gave her a warm smile.

They arrived at the restaurant which seemed fairly quiet with just a few other couples and groups talking amongst themselves, there was one rowdy group there were roaring with laughter near the bar but Sasuke calmly led Sakura across to the other end of the restaurant where he pulled her chair out for her to sit down.

"Thanks" Sakura muttered feeling slightly embarrassed and flattered by his actions. He gave her a quick smile and sat down himself and they fell into an awkward silence as both wondered what to say and Sakura hid behind her menu to try as she tried to think of something to say to him.

"Oh" Sakura said suddenly and Sasuke glanced up at her "You never said what you did, you know as a job" She said and Sasuke shrugged slightly.

"Nothing very interesting it's just something I sort of ended up doing" He said, and this time it was entirely true he had a strange existence being born knowing all sorts of things already, he had gone to work today somehow knowing where it was and what he had to do subconsciously, and he was familiar with his co-workers in a way and they had no inclination that the man they had greeted that morning hadn't been there yesterday or any other day in fact, unaware that only a few days ago some sort of miracle had taken place in Sasuke's birth. Sakura nodded and turned her attention back to the menu. It had been a strange unsettling feeling for Sasuke to know that he had been around for only a few days and yet people talked to him with a familiarity brought on by a relationship built up over a few years.

"So" Sasuke started "do you know what you want yet?" He asked and Sakura gave him a sheepish smile.

"Not really it all looks nice" She said and Sasuke made a noise of agreement although when the waitress came over to take their order they had both managed to make a choice.

"What would you usually be doing tonight?" Sasuke asked and Sakura shrugged slightly.

"Cleaning I suppose, although my friend asked me to come out tonight" She said.

"Sorry, did I take you away from them?" Sasuke asked and Sakura shrugged.

"Its fine she only asked me this evening anyway and I don't really like having things sprung on me like that" She said and Sasuke frowned slightly.

"Why not?" Sasuke asked and Sakura was glad when the same waitress returned with their drinks so she wouldn't have to answer, she played with the straw on her drink and didn't look at the man in front of her although she could see where he was resting his arms on the table without having to look up.

"So this is nice" She said and saw Sasuke shift slightly in his chair.

"Not something you want to answer then?" He said and Sakura flushed slightly.

"I don't know what you mean" She said airily glancing up at him and she could see a slight smile playing across his face.

"Its fine I won't ask anymore" He said and Sakura gave him a slight smile. Sasuke found himself subconsciously reaching out to Sakura's presence in his mind to see if he could tell what she was feeling or hiding but stopped himself. He had spent the whole day trying to be as normal as possible, as human as possible, but there was still the problem of the woman in front of him and the constant feeling of her in his mind, something which he had no desire to encourage unless he had too.

"You didn't have to take me out to dinner you know" Sakura said lightly and Sasuke grinned at her.

"Yes I did" He said and Sakura frowned at him.

"I would have helped you anyway after all I was the one who knocked into you" She argued back and Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"Did you? I wasn't paying attention anyway so I guess we were both at fault" He said and Sakura gave him a half smile.

"Well that makes me feel slightly better about spraining your wrist" She said "I was feeling a bit guilty about that"

"Its fine" Sasuke reassured her "It barely hurts" He gave her a warm smile "you must be good at her job" Sakura blushed slightly although she was once again saved by the waitress who brought their meals over so she didn't have to reply to his flattery. They ate quietly and Sakura, still feeling uncomfortable in the presence of, what she admitted was, an attractive man only picked at her food.

"So do you often take people home if you hurt them?" Sasuke asked and Sakura felt embarrassed again.

"Actually you're the first I usually cure people not injure them" Sakura said and Sasuke smiled to himself and Sakura found herself wondering what he was thinking.

"How long have you worked in medicine then?" Sasuke asked "I know you have to spend a lot of time studying and you look fairly young so it can't be that long"

"Only fairly young?" Sakura asked raising her eyebrows and Sasuke looked slightly wary of her.

"I meant you don't look 18 or so, don't hurt me please I'd quite like to at least be able to use one of my hands properly" He said raising both of his hands in a peaceful gesture and Sakura felt herself softening.

"As long as you don't think I look over thirty" She muttered "but you're right that's the only hospital I've worked full time in and I've only been there a few years" Sasuke nodded and took another bite of his meal and Sakura did the same.

"So what is it you do at the hospital?" He asked finally and Sakura began to talk to him more as she explained becoming more animated as her enthusiasm for her work became more pronounced. To Sasuke's credit he seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say so Sakura felt herself becoming less self-conscious as he kept asking her about her work, life, and friends.

After they finished eating Sasuke paid the bill sand offered to escort Sakura home so she wouldn't be alone in the dark. She walked back towards her house next to him feeling much less anxious than she did on the way to the restaurant

"Thank you" Sakura said after a while looking up at Sasuke as she tried to keep up with his longer strides "For dinner I mean it was lovely" Sasuke gave her a warm smile.

"It was my pleasure really" He said finding that, as he said it, it actually was "Of course now I just need to find another excuse to see you again" He added and Sakura tried to suppress the smile that was spreading across her face and she glanced down at the bandage that was still wrapped firmly around his wrist.

"Well I suppose instead of going to your local doctor you could always come to me for a check up to see how you're doing" She said gesturing to his arm as they stopped outside her house.

"Shall I see you next week then?" Sasuke asked "do you do evening appointments or even lunch?" Sakura bit her bottom lip slightly, unused to the level of interest he was showing in her, usually it was Sakura who organised days to met up with her previous boyfriends but strangely she didn't mind Sasuke organising her life for one evening.

"You can see me next Friday at seven again" Sakura said firmly "Usually I don't see patients then but for you I'll make a special exception if you'll take me somewhere nice"

"Well then" Sasuke said hesitating slightly as if reluctant to leave "I'll have to make sure you have a truly exceptional evening" He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek before jumping down the small step in front of Sakura's house, he gave her a small wave before turning his back on her to walk away. Sakura watched him go feeling slightly flustered, wondering if after that magical evening she had found the one Hinata had said was still out there for her, that she had finally found someone for her she shook her head slightly feeling ridiculous besides after one night it was so hard to tell much about him.

Sasuke frowned slightly as he stuck his hands deep in the pockets of his trousers and he headed down the street wondering where to head for next, he felt a lot lighter for spending a whole evening with Sakura as if what was constantly drawing him to her had decided to release its hold on him for a moment.

Sasuke had enjoyed his time with Sakura she was intelligent, cared for everyone, love her job and at one point he had seen a flash of a vicious temper which she had obviously tried to hide from him as someone she wanted to impress. He both wanted to see her again but at the same time he wanted to distance himself from her, his constant reminder that he wasn't like everybody else. She would be easy to fall in love with, even without the constant nagging connection between them both, but despite this, or perhaps because of it, Sasuke could still feel some resentment at the back of his mind from the knowledge that his existence depended on and was because of that naive girl who had spent so much time caring for other people she barely thought about herself and in a moment of wishful thinking she had unwittingly created life. It was something hard to forget, as someone with no real past, he had never made friends, not really, or had a family. His life revolved around her which was infuriating, he didn't want to depend on her, people were constantly changing and that was what Sasuke was, despite being born out of unusual circumstances, he could change and Sasuke was determined to become his own person. He had already found he had a fairly simple job to do so he had an income, now all Sasuke had to do is decide what to do next.

Sakura walked into her living room and flopped dreamily onto the sofa she couldn't believe her luck and most of all she couldn't believe that Ino had been right that he had surprised her and that it had been a date. She glanced at the time and hoped that Ino would still be up as she keyed in the number for her friend the second time that day.

"Hello?" She heard Ino say and from the noise in the background Sakura could guess that she was still out for the evening.

"Hi Ino?" Sakura said and a small smile began creeping across her face "It was a date"


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura spent that week at work with a spring in her step. It seemed ridiculous but spending the evening with Sasuke had been like a breath of fresh air in her life, as corny as it sounded, he had brought Sakura out of her depression over being dumped and brought back into her life a small bit of joy, all from a chance encounter with a kind stranger. He had literally crashed into her life and although she had gotten off scot free and him with a mild sprain he had infected her with some _joie de vivre_ and for the first time since she had been dumped Sakura felt some optimism and hope for the future, that she could move on and everything could be fine.

However the sudden bounce in her walk had not gone unnoticed by her co-workers, and even the ever bored Kiba, who had all found something to comment on.

"You look like you've just won the lottery" Shizune had said when Sakura had arrived that morning and Tsunade rolled her eyes,

"It's more like she's had sex for the first time in months" She said and Shizune blanched at Tsunade's suggestion Sakura felt her face heat up and was luckily saved by Chiyo, who called Tsunade to her office after saying the Sakura looked especially cheerful today and if one of her relatives had died and she had come into some money that way. Kiba's comment was, needless to say, a lot more welcome than both Tsunade's and Chiyo's.

"You look unusually happy today Dr. Haruno" He said smiling at her.

"I didn't know I wasn't allowed to be Mr Inuzuka, tell me is there any particular reason we're on last name terms today" Sakura said.

"Just thought I'd add a little variety to our conversations, so tell me what's happened to make you so upbeat. Are you finally getting rid of me then?" Sakura grinned.

"Well depending on how the tests we do today come back I just might be lucky there" Sakura said and Kiba pretended to look wounded "I thought you were eager to leave"

"I'd miss our conversations" He said with a grin and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"As long as this doesn't mean you're in a hurry to come back here for them" Kiba shook his head.

"No I think I've learnt my lesson there, I now know not to get too close to an irate bear" Sakura stared at him.

"Please tell me that wasn't what happened" Sakura said, trying to disguise her curiosity as he had always done his best to avoid her questions previously.

"No it was a dog, it was a big dog" He added in his defence "But somehow that makes me sound less tough"

"No kidding" Sakura said flatly and Kiba grinned at her.

"So you think I might be able to go home today? Back to work?" He asked and Sakura sighed.

"We'll see, but you have to try and take it easy for a while, no bear attacks okay?" He nodded and Sakura left with the promise that she'd be back soon with the test results, it was even better when she was able to return with the results and some discharge papers. Although she was, in a strange way, sad to see one of her favourite patients go. Unfortunately she knew that somehow Kiba would find his way back into the hospital but she hoped for his sake that he'd wait a while before gracing her with his presence again.

When Friday arrived Sakura's happiness dimmed as she was overcome with nerves as she realised she didn't know what to expect from Sasuke that night, he hadn't said anything about what they were going to do, would it be dinner, a movie, what was she supposed to wear to this mystery date-cum-check-up, as she was still determined to see how Sasuke's arm was healing. And she didn't have any way of contacting him to find out what he had planned.

Sakura groaned, startling Tsunade who turned away from the mirror in the ladies toilets where she was carefully reapplying her lipstick to see Sakura leaning with her head against the wall by the hand driers.

"Well" she said "This isn't something I see everyday" Sakura didn't answer and only seemed to try to drive her head further into the wall.

"This might be presumptuous of me but is something bothering you Dr Haruno?" Tsunade said moving to lean on the wall next to her. Sakura opened one eye and stared at Tsunade.

"No" She muttered, and Tsunade stared back at her "maybe just a little something" She said reluctantly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tsunade asked and Sakura groaned.

"It's really stupid" Sakura said and Tsunade gave her a kind smile.

"Come on tell me" She said and Sakura sighed.

"I don't have anything to wear" She said and Tsunade looked sceptical.

"Because you're not wearing anything at all now" She said and Sakura scowled at her. Although she failed to look intimidating when she was still trying to beat her head against the wall so Tsunade simply waited for her to stop.

"No" Sakura said "Tonight, I don't know what I'm supposed to be wearing" Tsunade frowned slightly and then she grinned.

"Was I right earlier, are you being ridiculously happy as you finally have a man in your life?" She said.

"Shut up" Sakura said half heartedly "It's not like that."

"What are you doing tonight then?" Tsunade asked and Sakura shrugged.

"I don't know"

"Hence the head in the wall, I suppose" Tsunade said dryly. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know he never said"

"It is a boy then" Tsunade muttered, "So you want something nice but not too dressed up then" She said and Sakura pushed herself off the wall and nodded.

"Maybe I should just go like this" She said, indicating what she had worn to work, Tsunade chuckled.

"You may say that now but I guarantee that once you get home you'll be rummaging through your wardrobe for something to wear" Sakura snorted.

"Really" She muttered.

However, later, it turned out that Tsunade had been right and Sakura's can't be bothered attitude had been replaced by sheer panic. She was just shoving all her clothes haphazardly back into the wardrobe when she realised it was ten to seven and had only minutes to finish getting ready. She began fumbling through her pots of makeup, hoping that the punctuality Sasuke had shown for their dinner last week wasn't a particular habit of his. Sakura was to be disappointed when, at exactly seven, the doorbell rang, she panicked as she put the finishing touches to her makeup.

Sakura heard the doorbell a second time ring and half ran half hobbled down the hallway and stairs as she pulled her shoes on, stumbling over the welcome mat in her doorway, she lunged for the door.

"Is this okay?" Sasuke started when Sakura opened the door suddenly.

"Is what okay?" He asked and Sakura frowned at him.

"What I'm wearing, I wasn't sure what to wear" She said and Sasuke tried not to smile as he realised that the strange restless feeling he had been getting from Sakura all day was over her clothes.

"It's fine, you might want a coat though" Sakura paused and glanced down at what she was wearing.

"Right" She said and ignoring all the other coats and jackets she had hanging up by the door ran upstairs calling back at Sasuke "Feel free to come in and shut the door" Sasuke smiled to himself as he stepped into Sakura's home a second time. He looked around the small, but oddly familiar, house and then heard Sakura's footsteps behind him.

"Okay I think I'm ready then" She said and he turned to see her standing in the doorway with a brightly coloured coat on "at least I think I'm ready" she added. Sakura then noticed, for the first time, the large bag Sasuke had with him.

"What's that for?" She asked leaning forward slightly to get a good look at it.

"It's a secret" Sasuke said and Sakura looked put out. "Come on you'll find out in a little while anyway" He said and Sakura sighed.

"Fine" She said digging through her bag for her keys as she ushered Sasuke out of the house. Sasuke took several steps down the road before he turned and waited for Sakura to catch up to him.

"So where are we going then?" Sakura asked and Sasuke smiled.

"That's another secret" He said and Sakura folded her arms and sighed.

"How's your wrist?" She asked instead, glancing at the man next to her.

"Its fine, see" Sasuke said raising the, now unbandaged, arm for Sakura to inspect.

"So it doesn't hurt at all?" Sakura asked and Sasuke shook his head.

"It appears that I'm a relatively quick healer" He said and Sakura made a noise of agreement. "Now if I remember correctly" Sasuke said "There should be a park nearby"

"You mean the Memorial Park?" Sakura said, "there's a really nice area there, it's always relatively quiet and at this time of year all the flowers would be out in bloom" She felt herself going red as Sasuke watched her "sorry, that probably sounded stupid, but just in case you wanted to know, you know, for future reference"

"No its fine" Sasuke said, offering hr his hand "Could you show it to me?" Curiously, Sakura took his hand and led him to her favourite spot in the park, it was just as she had described it and as they had arrived later it meant that the whole park was fairly quiet, with just a few groups sitting here and there in the grass. Sakura smiled as she examined the bursts of colour in the surrounding flower beds and turned to see that Sasuke had laid a blanket on the ground and he motioned for her to sit down on it.

"What's all this about?" She asked and Sasuke smiled.

"Well, as it's a nice day I thought we could sit out here and instead of going to a restaurant or something I brought something for us to eat" He said and Sakura sat down next to him.

"A picnic" She said softly and Sasuke nodded, as he began to take containers of food out of the bag he had been carrying. "No one's ever done something like this for me before" Sasuke paused and looked up from what he was doing to see Sakura staring off into the distance. "It sounds silly but I've always wanted to do something like this with someone as, like, a date or something" She smiled softly at Sasuke, Sasuke returned her smile with a small one of his own. _I know,_ he thought, trying to ignore the sad wistfulness in her voice. Sakura looked down and took a breath as if to compose herself as when she turned to face Sasuke again she was all smiles.

"Wow, this all looks fantastic" Sakura said.

"Hopefully you'll like it, it's just the usual picnic stuff" Sasuke said opening some of the containers so Sakura could look in them. "Help yourself" he said picking up a tomato and eating it straight from the Tupperware box.

"Thanks" Sakura said, touched that he would do something this thoughtful for her.

They sat in a comfortable silence as they ate watching the few other visitors to the park, and the changing colours in the sky as the sun began the set, fading from a bright blue to dark streaks of pink and orange in a pale sky.

Sakura leant back to rest on her hands as she stared at the sky, looking for shapes in the clouds. She caught Sasuke's eye and smiled slightly before turning her attention back to the pink clouds on the horizon. Sasuke watched as Sakura's face lit up with a small sense of satisfaction, that he had been able to make her that happy with such a simple gesture, first the picnic and now, he took his eyes off Sakura to glance at the fading colours as the sun slipped below the trees, it had been a beautiful day and watching the sunset together couldn't have gone better even if he'd planned it.

Sakura smiled slightly as she became aware of Sasuke's gaze and she turned to look at him fully, Sasuke didn't bother to hide his gaze and continued watching her expression as he sat cross-legged, leaning on his elbows.

"How's work for you?" Sasuke asked suddenly and Sakura almost jumped.

"Fine, it's all good, one of regular patients left today" Sasuke frowned.

"How can you have a regular patient in a hospital?" He asked and then paused "Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked I didn't mean to be insensitive, they've not got some kind of terminal illness have they" Sakura smiled and shook her head.

"No they're just very good at injuring themselves and I'm sure that pretty soon they'll be on first name terms with all the people in A&E" She said.

"Fair enough" Sasuke said and Sakura smiled slightly.

"What about you? How have you been?" She asked.

"Good" Sasuke said, "I haven't really done much, nothing as exciting as last week when I was knocked over by someone." That is unless he counted the amount of time he had spent watching different people in different places, like the Memorial Park they were sat in, wondering why he felt so disjointed and what it meant to have "heart" and wondering if getting closer to Sakura would help him understand it.

"I'm sure you'll be glad to know I haven't managed to injure someone this week then" Sakura said.

"I am, at least I know it definitely isn't a common occurrence" He said and Sakura grinned at him.

"Or so you think" She said "Little do you know it's a technique I frequently use to meet new people"

"We'll I'm hurt, and here I was thinking I was special" Sasuke said, Sakura opened her mouth to respond but the words got caught in her throat. If it had been anyone else, any of her friends whether it was Ino or Naruto or even Kiba who she often shared friendly banter with she would have answered easily 'you are special' but with Sasuke, a man she had only met three times, she felt awkward saying it. Even as he sat opposite her so easily, resting his chin on his hands, amusement written across his face all Sakura could manage to say was,

"Uh" before she faltered again. Sasuke grinned at her as Sakura squirmed under his gaze.

"Don't worry" He said "I was only teasing you"

"I know" Sakura said quietly, too quietly as it seemed that Sasuke didn't hear her.

"It's getting dark" He said instead "We should pack all this up"

It was when they walked home, or rather when Sasuke was walking Sakura to her front door, when Sasuke felt a sadness radiating from the back of his mind where he had come to think of it as the Sakura part of his mind. He watched her walk beside him from the corner of his eye as she ambled along next to him her head bowed as she watched her feet on the cobbles.

"Is everything okay?" Sasuke asked and Sakura started. And Sasuke began to wonder if his comment earlier had completely thrown Sakura. "It's just-" Sasuke paused, looking for the right words without having to explain why he knew what she was feeling "you seem a lot quieter than you were last week" He said finally and Sakura smiled at him. She smiled a lot, he realised, no matter what she was feeling at the time.

"Yeah, I was just thinking" Sakura said.

"Thinking?" Sasuke repeated "About what?"

"Nothing much" Sakura said and Sasuke frowned slightly. "I was just thinking I'm glad I met you really, even if we did manage to knock each other over" Sasuke smiled at her but he felt strange, he knew she would like him, he was made to be perfect for her, but he was happy to hear her say it. Although a small part of him, deep down, that couldn't come to terms with Sakura, literally, being the reason for his existence, sneered at the comment _of course you are, I'm everything you ever wanted_. The thought crossed Sasuke's mind briefly but disappeared when he saw Sakura looking up at him through her hair so she could easily look away and avoid all eye contact with him and all uncharitable thoughts fled. Sakura was shifting nervously as she played with the sleeves of her coat and Sasuke smiled.

"I'm glad I met you too" Sasuke said, and in a way he was. Sakura seemed to be a complex person and he wanted to get to know her the usual way without having to rely on the knowledge of her he had been born with, and most of all he was curious to know why or how Sakura had called him into being.

However that didn't mean he believed her, if she was glad to have met him then it shouldn't have made her feel sad, unless he had unwittingly brought up a bad memory Sasuke suspected that she had lied to him to avoid saying what she had been really thinking.

They came to a halt and stood awkwardly outside Sakura's front door as Sakura began examining her shoes again, unsure what to do now.

"Thanks for everything today" She said finally "I said it before but, really, the picnic was wonderful" Sasuke smiled slightly.

"Its fine" He said and sighed, running a hand though his hair."Look, it feels slightly strange to do this now but here" He said giving Sakura a small card with his name and phone number on "If you ever want to talk or meet up again it might be nice" Sasuke winced slightly "More than nice" He said trying to make amends but it still didn't sound right. Sakura smiled.

"That would definitely be more than nice" Sakura said with a grin "Hang on" She opened her bag and after digging around for a moment she produced a small note pad and pen. "Here, in case you ever want to talk or meet up ever again" She said and Sasuke smiled slightly as he recognised his own words being used against him, he took the scrap of paper from Sakura with a soft;

"Thanks." Sakura ducked her head slightly as she felt her face heat up.

"Okay then" She said holding her keys loosely "I guess I'll see you sometime" She paused for a moment before turning to unlock her house. When Sakura glanced back Sasuke was still standing in the same place watching her, she gave him a small wave, before firmly shutting the door.

Sasuke watched Sakura's shadow against the glass in the door recede before he turned to walk back to his own place of residence. He wouldn't call it a home, unlike Sakura's small house it didn't seem to contain any on his personality, there was nothing in the house that reflected who he was, but then again Sasuke still felt like he didn't know himself anyway. Maybe that was something he could do. Whereas other people had saved to buy a house or suffered years of renting with odd housemates, he had heard the odd story from his co-workers, Sasuke supposed he was lucky to have magically acquired a place to live. Beside he could always decorate it, turn it into a home, he just needed to find out who he was first, what he was like and what he liked and who he could be.

He knew he liked Sakura. And it wasn't just the influence of the bond they shared, Sasuke knew that if he had met her and gotten to know her, like he had over their two sort-of-maybe-dates, he would have genuinely liked her. At least that was a good sign. He opened the paper Sakura had given him that he had folded and put in his pocket, he knew that he wanted to see her again.


	5. Chapter 5

After the picnic on Friday, the days began to pass by erratically for Sakura, sometimes lasting for what seemed like eons and others passing in a fleeting moment. As the days stumbled into weeks, and then months, Sasuke became a more permanent fixture in Sakura's life, much to her delight. Sakura began to expect to see Sasuke waiting for her after work as he either walked her home or invited her to join him somewhere else and Sakura began feel nervous as she left the hospital wondering if he was there or not and she was always glad to look up and see him there, leaning on the railings outside. She always felt a smile creep across her face and the fluttering feeling of excitement grew, warm in her chest when she heard the other doctors and nurses comment on the dark haired young man waiting outside the hospital again, even if the knowing smiles pointed in her direction had grown embarrassing.

Sasuke made everything about their new relationship so easy. He expressed an interest in her life and in her work at the hospital asking her about the patients she was most concerned about, particularly, now, her problem patient Juugo, who, she was worried that he would have to be transferred to a specialist mental health clinic. He had easily slipped into Sakura's group of friends as if he had always been with them, and Ino joked to Sakura that it was as if she had finally found her perfect man, and although Sakura protested she had to admit that Ino did have a point Sasuke came so close to perfect for her it was almost hard to believe. Although that was why she was so hesitant about him, she thought she'd found someone close to perfect before and it had just ended with nursing her broken heart for years.

Things had started off in a similar way before, like Sasuke, he had been everything Sakura had thought she wanted. He had been charming, attentive and told her he loved her. Sakura had fallen hard and fast for Tanzo only to have her heart completely shattered, and maybe even stomped on a few times, later on.

And so, after that, Sakura's friends had done their best to pick up the pieces, assuring her that not all men were like that and while feeling less broken, but still slightly bruised by Tanzo's betrayal she had pushed herself back into her life and the so called "dating game". But there was nothing fun about it.

Every time things got too serious in a relationship Sakura felt herself backing away from them, she'd meet their friends, parents and care deeply for them but she always found herself holding back, unable to invest all of her emotions, hopes and dreams into the relationship. Then it kept getting worse each time she tried to start afresh, she had been deemed "cold" by some of the men she had met or "withdrawn", and once the excitement of a new relationship had worn off it seemed they noticed that beneath all Sakura's organisation, in finding the time to meet their friends and family, it only served to hide her emotional detachment that she had never quite committed herself whole-heartedly to the new relationship.

With each rebuff Sakura found herself giving less and less of herself to people, she loved her friends and cared deeply for any boyfriend she may have whether the relationship lasted for months, a year or even a few dates but never told them she loved them in case it made her too vulnerable.

Sakura had thought about all her failed relationships as Sasuke had walked her home after their picnic and although all her old friends had stuck by her over the years she wondered if her blossoming friendship with Sasuke would come to a halt for the same reason all her other relationships failed. But just when she had began worrying he had spoken to her and he had smiled at her so kindly that he had managed to erase most of her fears in such a simple gesture.

She had met Sasuke again and again and she knew she genuinely liked him as he took her to places all over the city she began to enjoy letting a little spontaneity in her life again, and every time Sasuke took her hand to take her somewhere different she never minded, for once Sakura was glad to let go of her tightly organised life to give Sasuke a place in it.

Sakura only wished that she knew where they stood with each other as opposed to standing on the boarders between being friends and a couple and had yet to fall either way of the dividing line. Sakura had grown to enjoy the feeling of Sasuke's larger hand holding hers and the odd touch or embrace at the end of their meetings, their possible-dates, created a fluttering feeling in Sakura's chest and whenever he showed up with a grin and the suggestion that he could take her somewhere nice if she wanted too, it was always somewhere he never told her where, always gave Sakura a little thrill.

He had made the odd flirtatious comment and complemented her appearance from time to time but nothing much had come out of it yet, and although Sakura had grown to care deeply for Sasuke she was unsure about his feelings or her even own for that matter. He smiled and laughed with her but despite all his teasing she never knew what he was really thinking, he was hard to read and she was unable to figure out what was going on in his mind under the kind words he gave her. Maybe she was just too suspicious of people now but she couldn't tell if Sasuke was serious in what he said or if he was just joking most of the time.

In the evening Sakura was enjoying a rare quiet night in after a long, trying shift at the hospital and a few days of not seeing Sasuke at all added to her frustration. She was aimlessly watching whatever was on television, flicking between the channels at each advert break, when the doorbell rang. Sakura got up and trudged over to the door wondering who would come and ruin her quiet night in. She unlocked the door and prayed it wouldn't be any kind of salesman or someone with a questionnaire and was surprised to see Sasuke standing there.

"Oh, hello" Sakura said unable to think of anything else to say.

"Hi" Sasuke said and he briefly looked past her and into the house "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" He asked and Sakura shook her head.

"No I was just looking for something interesting to watch on the TV" She said and Sasuke went up the step in front of her front door so he was now towering over her.

"Good" He muttered placing his hands on her waist.

"Did you want anything?" Sakura asked faintly as she was firmly aware that it was impossible for Sasuke to get much closer to her without anything physical happening between them. Sakura took a deep breath as she tried to put a lid on her imagination, which was running wild, and she wished once again that Sasuke would make his intentions towards her clear once again.

"Just to see you" Sasuke said softly right next to her ear, making Sakura aware how close he was to her.

"Uh" Sakura said going pink as her imagination began to get out of control, this situation was too similar to things she had fantasised about as a teenager. She heard Sasuke chuckle and he leaned back to look her in the face although Sakura was now too embarrassed to look him in the eye.

"You're not used to flattery are you?" He said raising an eyebrow and Sakura didn't reply as she seemed rooted to the spot as she stared resolutely at the floor. "Oh Sakura you're so naive"

"Shut up" Sakura said without any real feeling and she hit Sasuke on the shoulder "if I didn't know any better I'd say you were after something, trying to butter me up like that" She gave him a stern look and Sasuke rubbed his shoulder, wincing slightly at the force she had used.

"Well I can't be the first person to try and get on your good side" Sasuke said with a grin and Sakura glared at him.

"And why, may I ask, do you need to get on my good side?" Sakura said.

"You just did" Sasuke said and Sakura frowned at him, she sighed when she figure out what he was saying.

"You know what I mean" She said

"Do I?" Sasuke said with a small smile and Sakura glared at him.

"I'm going to shut the door now" She said and before Sasuke could react she slammed it shut, but she stayed where she was resting her hands on her hips as she could see Sasuke's shadow still outside. She watched Sasuke's shape through the door's frosted glass shift and then the doorbell rang again.

"This better not be harassment" Sakura said flatly as she opened the door again and Sasuke laughed.

"Not really, but I meant it when I said I wanted to see you" He said and Sakura studied his expression carefully, he seemed sincere enough.

"Alright" She said and opened the door wider "Come in but no funny business I mean it"

"I wouldn't dream of it" Sasuke said before adding "especially after finding out how hard you can hit" Sakura rolled her eyes but she could feel her attitude softening towards him as he followed her to the living room and joined her on the sofa.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura thoughtfully, now he was sitting there next to her the incessant need to be close to her had gone and he was able to think clearly about his situation and the woman next to him. He admitted to himself that without the strange connection between then he probably wouldn't have noticed her, she wasn't stunningly pretty like other people he had seen but after spending many hours in her company he certainly found her interesting especially the hints of her short temper that she had obviously tried to hide from him except when she was clearly irritated He was glad she'd forgotten to ask why he wanted to be on her good side again, Sasuke didn't think he could answer that one to her satisfaction because the truth, that it would more than likely be the end of him if she hated him, was not something he could easily say to her or something she would believe.

Sasuke had tried to run away over the past few days, he'd called in sick to work and gotten on buses and trains to try and get as far away from Sakura as he could. Although he found the further away he was the less real he was. It had started off with pain in his chest where, he supposed, his heart should have been, and then progressed to dizzy spells and nausea and then as he stood slumped at a train station over a hundred miles away Sasuke had raised his hand to see the platform opposite him through his palm.

After that he had taken the next rain back towards Sakura and as he recovered from the bouts of sickness and almost fading out of existence he had tried to come to terms with everything; that his existence depended on Sakura completely. As he returned home, it was home wasn't it, that was what people called the place of their birth, he tuned into Sakura's presence in the back of his head and realised that she had missed him when he had been gone and almost felt guilty for it if he hadn't been so annoyed, so he had walked straight to Sakura's house to see her, wondering what would happen if she no longer had any use for him in her life if he would completely disappear without warning, or if it would be as if he had never existed at all. But when she had opened the door and looked so surprised but still so pleased to see him all the anger that had built up as he strode towards her house melted away and he had just wanted to be near her, just for a moment.

Sasuke glanced over at Sakura who seemed to be acutely aware of his presence next to her on the sofa, although he found it amusing that she was too stubborn to show how uncomfortable it made her there was only a slight flicker on her face as she glanced to the side and saw that he was watching her and then she resolutely stared back at the television. Although Sasuke could tell she wasn't paying attention to it as a she shifted in her chair feeling self-conscious.

"Sakura?" Sasuke asked suddenly "You said that you preferred things to be organised, or scheduled I suppose, right?" Sakura glanced and him.

"Yes you're right I like to usually have some warning before people, usually Ino, try and spring something on me" She said reluctantly as if she was suspicious of where he was going with this.

"So why didn't you tell me to go away?" He asked wondering if, on some subliminal level, she felt the same connection between them as he did "Not that I want you too I'm just curious" Sakura frowned and she drew her legs up to her chin so her feet were resting on the sofa.

"I don't know it seemed a bit mean to turn you away I guess" She muttered and them she added even more quietly "and anyway I like your company" Sasuke grinned and leaned over to look at her closely.

"Sorry what was that?" He asked and Sakura flushed slightly

"You heard" She said glaring at him as if she expected her to react badly to the news. Sasuke gave her a reassuring smile, he felt strangely glad at her words even though logically he knew that as someone created to be everything she wanted in a man there wasn't much chance of her disliking him and he wondered what he truly felt about her.

Sasuke knew that he liked Sakura certainly she was kind, and despite the loneliness she must have felt to call Sasuke into life she always seemed cheerful around the people at work, her friends or even with Sasuke himself. Sasuke wanted to know all of the things she kept hidden even to him and he seemed to be able to call up many facts about Sakura's life, what she liked the most and things she wasn't keen on or familiar with in a similar manner to the way people could recall dates in history or witty anecdotes and he wondered if she'd even let him get that close to her or if she'd think he was too good to be true but most of all wondered if the care he felt for her was genuine or artificially created along with the rest of his knowledge about her. But Sakura seemed so oblivious to what she had done, she had no idea the power she had over him, she was completely unaware of what she had been capable off in that brief moment of loneliness. Sasuke found it both irritating and strangely charming. He never knew Sakura had created him to be such a glutton for punishment. He both wanted to avoid her and be near her, liked and as much as he disliked her, it was certainly difficult but in this moment one side overruled the other and he really wanted to be Sakura's Sasuke, without the complications, just to like Sakura and have her like him back.

Without really thinking about his actions much Sasuke reached out and gently ran his finger over the back of Sakura's hand, she jumped slightly but turned and gave him a tentative smile and he shifted so he was able to cover her hand with his own instead.

Sakura looked down to see his larger hand covering her own. She thought it was strange that, looking back, she had only known Sasuke for a few weeks or so although as he seemed to fit in her life so easily it felt like it was a lot longer. He had, as Ino kept reminding her, all the qualities she had said she wanted in a man but at the same time she wondered if things were moving too fast between the two of them. They saw each other almost every day and although Sakura enjoyed being with him she was still reluctant, after everything with Tanzo, to let go of all her reservations and plunge headfirst into a relationship with Sasuke whatever relationship it would turn out to be.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked and he frowned as it was the first time he had heard her sounding so unsure of herself "What are we going?" He frowned slightly and she shrugged "you know, with us" She muttered looking embarrassed.

"I don't know Sakura" Sasuke said truthfully "if I figure it out I'll tell you alright?" She gave him a quick smile.

"I suppose so" She said and this time Sasuke looked worried. So he moved his hand so he was holding hers properly, their fingers tangled together.

"What's bothering you?" He asked and Sakura looked away, Sasuke frowned slightly feeling annoyed that despite having an advantage over the common man having access to her likes and dislikes among other things there were still something's she was able to keep from him. "Sakura try not to think so much" He said after a pause "it feels right doesn't it"

"Yeah" Sakura sighed and leaned back into him so he could wrap his free arm around her stomach.

Sasuke frowned as he examined his own thoughts, being with Sakura did feel right although he didn't like the idea of being obligated to feel this way, despite telling Sakura not to think too much about their almost relationship Sasuke knew that he would be ignoring his own advice as he wanted see just how much like other people he was, he wanted to know that despite being brought to life by Sakura, something she seemed strangely unaware of herself so he assumed it was accidental which only served to annoy him more.

He wanted to be his as human as the rest of them, but now he felt strangely content to be sitting with Sakura, not doing anything in particular, just sitting with her as it got darker outside and Sakura shifted against him, almost trying to rearrange the way he sat to make it more comfortable for herself. Sasuke almost smiled, he almost wished that he had met Sakura normally, to be free to like her without any kind of obligation; to be able to chose to be with her would be so much better than his feelings towards her now, feelings of fondness mixed with resentment.

Sakura was blissfully unaware of Sasuke mixed feelings and she found herself warming to him over the last couple of weeks. She didn't mind when he turned up unannounced at the hospital when she was at work or at her house, although she wondered how he seemed to have such flexible hours for his job. He was kind and seemed to care for her and at the moment they were hovering between a friendly relationship and being a couple and, as much as she liked Sasuke, she still wasn't sure she wanted to jump into a relationship so soon after she had broken up with the last boyfriend. She was happy enough to wait, like Sasuke said, it felt right as it was anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

For the next few weeks they were almost inseparable, and Sakura began to expect to see Sasuke either waiting for her after work or for him to arrive at her house in the evenings, in fact it had become a rare occurrence for her not to see him at least once a day. He took her out to see films, for meals and at the weekend they spent hours together alone or with Sakura's group of friends. He began to argue familiarly with Naruto, because, somehow, they never saw eye to eye on things. Sakura was just glad that Sasuke seemed to, on the whole, get on with her friends and for Sasuke's part he was glad to make some friends, or rather to be able to build the relationship himself for the first time.

Sasuke had been persuaded to join Sakura on another night out with her friends, although it had become apparent to him by now that when Sakura and her friends all arranged to meet up at eight they really meant half eight or maybe even closer to nine. Unfortunately Sasuke was rather good at timekeeping and had arrived with Sakura to be faced with the prospect of making an attempt at polite conversation with Naruto, something that every time Sasuke tried it he failed in a few seconds and ended up wanting to cause him physical pain, or even contradict him just to see Naruto get angry. As Sakura was deep in conversation with Ino, Tenten and Hinata, Sasuke eyed Naruto carefully, the other man didn't seem too pleased about the way things had turned out either which, in a way, made Sasuke feel glad that he wasn't the only person not looking forward to a forced conversation.

Sasuke glanced up when he saw Sakura move next to him and watched as Ino threaded her arm through Sakura's as they walked to the bar with Hinata and Tenten, the reasons why women were unable to go up and do things alone was lost on Sasuke and, as far as he knew, was a mystery to most, if not all, men. Although they had only left after Sakura had leaned over and specifically warned both Sasuke and, with a more vivid description of what she would do if he didn't listen, told Naruto that they were both to be fairly nice to each other in their absence.

"Look" Naruto said after they had exchanged the usual civilities and had covered all the neutral topics like the weather, although Sasuke was tempted to argue with Naruto's description of it just to be pedantic and annoy the other man. "I want a proper answer from you for this, what do you really think of Sakura, I mean, do you really like her?" Sasuke studied Naruto silently trying to organise his thoughts, wishing he could genuinely answer his question without feeling so conflicted about everything. What did the other man expect him to say; 'I may very well like her but I'm not sure if it's because of some strange, mystic feeling that pulls me towards her and by the way a few months ago I technically didn't exist'. Naruto scowled at him, thinking he was just going to ignore the question, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for Sasuke, Naruto couldn't really pull off an intimidating look and instead only managed to look faintly disgruntled.

"I like her, she's nice" Sasuke settled for eventually as it was true enough. Naruto began to watch him carefully, but Sasuke only stared back at him, refusing to elaborate until Naruto gave an exasperated sigh as he ran both his hands through his hair as he sat back to stare at Sasuke.

"Where did you come from anyway?" He said and Sasuke started.

"What?" He said sharply but luckily Naruto seemed too lost in thought to notice.

"She's never mentioned you before, did you meet at work, or something?" Naruto elaborated.

"Work, sort of, we ran into each other, uh, quite literally, and she offered to fix me up" Sasuke said, beginning to feel nervous under such close scrutiny. It was as if the more Naruto watched a person the more likely they became to tell him the truth, or at least whatever it was he was asking. Sasuke looked down and began tracing patterns on the table top in the rings of condensation the drinks had left. At least that way he could pretend to be thinking about what Naruto had to say and could avoid looking at Naruto's blue eyes which seemed to have a permanent look of wide eyed innocence. It only served to make people trust him a whole lot easier but by now Sasuke had learnt to be suspicious of people and it was something he happened to be good at, although it probably wasn't a talent to be proud of.

"Whatever happens, you better not hurt her" Naruto said quietly "She seems pretty tough but she's still fragile, I guess, inside, she doesn't let people in easily, she tends to keep her boyfriends at arm's length but that doesn't mean she doesn't care" Naruto said and he glanced over at the bar to make sure they weren't coming over and Sasuke got the impression that whatever the other man had to say was important to him as the look he was giving him had intensified so gave him his full attention, instead of only half listening and giving some attention to what he had come to think of as the Sakura part of his mind.

"Sakura's just, well she's not the same as she was, she used to laugh and love people freely but now after everything with Tanzo-" Naruto cut himself off and Sasuke frowned at the guilty expression on his face.

"Who?" He said.

"No one" Naruto said too quickly and Sasuke's frown deepened as several things clicked into place.

"An ex-boyfriend?" He said and Naruto nodded jerkily "Is he the reason why she doesn't like having things sprung on her?" Naruto nodded again. "What happened?"

"I can't say" Naruto said and Sasuke frowned at him "No I really can't, all I know is stuff I've heard from other people, I've never really wanted to ask, all I know is that one day she sort of closed off from everyone, she was one of my closest friends and now she's just harder to get though too, I guess, she's not out at much and I see her at gatherings and I ring her but it's not the same."

"People change" Sasuke said and Naruto shook his head.

"Not like that, not Sakura and not that much" Naruto said stubbornly and Sasuke almost rolled his eyes at the other man's insistence "I think she still talks to Hinata, Ino and Tenten about stuff but to the rest of us she's just closed off and she doesn't decide to randomly do stuff anymore and before she was the worst out of all of us" Naruto gave him a wistful smile "I met Sakura at university on a pub crawl and within moment of meeting her she said she was bored with it and suggested we leave, so the guys I was with went off with her and her friends, it was a great night, we ended up in a dingy looking chip shop and I woke up the next day feeling sick"

"So a great night out with Sakura left you feeling nauseous?" Sasuke said and Naruto opened his mouth to argue with him and then he noticed the slight smile on Sasuke's face "I think I would have quite liked to see that."Naruto gave him a relieved smile.

"You better be serious about her that's all" He said and Sasuke made a noise of agreement as he turned his attention back to Sakura and her friends who were laughing at something at the bar, she always looked happy but he supposed there was always something bubbling underneath the surface with people, he only needed to use himself for an example to see that anyway.

"After my father recovered from the shock he sent us out but Neji's never lived it down" Hinata said taking a sip of her drink.

"So wait, Neji actually let you and Hanabi stick things in his hair?" Tenten asked and Hinata nodded as she bit the end of her straw.

"Oh yes, we'd plaited bits of it and everything"

"You ruined his manly image there" Tenten said and Ino rolled her eyes.

"Please" She said "When has Neji ever had a manly image

"Trust me he's _all_ man" Tenten said with a grin and watched Ino's face twist into a look of horror.

"That's not really something I want to hear about my cousin" Hinata said and Sakura giggled.

"That's not something I want to hear at all, and how do you know that anyway" Ino said scowling at Tenten.

"Please I've been friends with Neji for years and sometimes you can't help noticing things, like the way he looks without a shirt on, amongst other things" Tenten trailed off slightly and cleared her throat. Sakura grinned at her friend as Ino continued to give Tenten looks of horror and glanced back towards the table they had been sitting at, she caught Sasuke looking across at her and ducked her head smiling slightly. Hinata caught the exchange and gave Sakura a small smile.

"Sasuke certainly seems fond of you" Hinata said to her as Ino and Tenten continued bickering.

"I guess so" Sakura said and a small smile crept across her face.

"You two are spending a lot of time together" Hinata said "It's quite sweet really."

Sakura glanced over at Hinata who gave her a faint smile. If it was Ino saying that it would have been a rather pointed remark, something like "and I want you to give me all the details of your so-called innocent little friendship right now please" but coming from Hinata it was just a simple observation, or maybe she just knew that Sakura wouldn't tell them anything unless she was ready.

Hinata didn't seem to have a mean bone in her body and had the belief that everyone was just as nice as she was, it was just sometimes hidden really far down, she had the same innocent idealism as Naruto which Ino had always said was annoying as neither of them had realised that they were practically perfect for each other yet.

"What's sweet?" Ino asked as her conversation with Tenten came to a halt.

"Sakura and Sasuke" Hinata said and Ino smirked at Sakura.

"Oh that" She said and by this time her grin was starting to make Sakura feel uncomfortable, "it's sickening really" She said and Sakura glared at her.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" She said.

"That you two sit there making eyes at each other when you think no one, including the other person, isn't looking, it's enough to make people feel quite jealous and almost makes me want to find a boyfriend for myself"

"He's not my boyfriend" Sakura said "He's just a friend, nothing more" She said firmly, wishing that she could believe that herself, being "just friends" would make everything between her and Sasuke a whole lot simpler even if there was quite a large section of her mind that was saying that it didn't want simple and would take complicated any day if it involved Sasuke.

Ino just gave her a look that said she didn't believe her.

"Okay, if you say so" She said and Sakura was relieved for once that Ino wasn't going to start a full scale interrogation, she wouldn't be surprised if Ino revealed one day that she owned a set of thumb screws. "Let's go back shall we" Ino continued "We probably shouldn't leave Sasuke and Naruto on their own for too long" Sakura nodded and Tenten sighed.

"I thought Neji would have arrived by now, or Lee, I expect the others to be late but those two have punctuality ingrained into them" She said and Hinata smiled.

"It looks like Chouji and Shikamaru have just turned up" She said nodding towards the doorway.

"Chouji!" Ino shouted waving one of her arms madly, almost spilling her drink down Tenten's leg in the process "Oops, sorry"

They wandered back to the table together and with some careful manoeuvring managed to squish Sakura next to Sasuke, claiming that they needed more room for the late comers. However Sakura thought she saw Ino and Tenten exchange looks when everyone had been seated. The way the seating had turned out, with Hinata sandwiched between Naruto and Ino and with herself conveniently next to Sasuke made Sakura suspicious of the two.

Sasuke seemed to take all of her friends antics in his stride, even their reluctance to find some more chairs in the bar preferring the make everyone squish up in the booth they were sat at. When Sakura had mouthed "sorry" at him Sasuke had just shook his head as if he wasn't bother by them all and it wasn't long before Sakura found herself pressed against Sasuke as Neji joined them.

Another glance and Ino and Tenten, who appeared to be toasting one another, confirmed Sakura's belief that they had orchestrated this especially as Hinata was now bright red and practically sitting on Naruto's lap. Sakura squinted at the table trying to see if she could make some sort of picture out of the grain of the wood to try and get her mind onto other things but she could still feel Sasuke's warmth radiating against her thigh which only got worse every time he shifted as he held an animated conversation with Shikamaru about work.

Sakura had thought it was a strange coincidence that Sasuke and Shikamaru worked for the same company but as Ino had berated Shikamaru for not introducing them to Sasuke earlier, apparently he had deemed it too much of a hassle, Sakura had watched a strange expression form of Sasuke's face and when she had asked him about it he had brushed her off, saying it was nothing. It was just one of the many mysteries about Sasuke she had yet to uncover, along with why he always avoided talking about his personal life.

She gave Sasuke a small smile when he glanced her way.

"You okay?" He asked and Sakura nodded.

"I was just thinking" She said and Sasuke raised his eyebrows "how was it that you and Naruto managed to stay civil to each other for at least ten minutes" Sakura asked and Sasuke grinned at her.

"Oh, you know, by sticking to the kind of topics we couldn't disagree on the weather, why you all seemed to be taking so long at the bar, where everyone else was, and you" Sakura glanced up at him when he said the last part but he smiled at her still so she guessed that it couldn't have been that bad, but still.

"Me?" She asked and Sasuke nodded. "What about me?" Sasuke shrugged.

"This and that" He said and Sakura glowered at him.

"Fair enough" She muttered and Sasuke grinned again.

"Naruto was just telling me that you were drunk when you two met" He said and watched Sakura swell with indignation.

"I was not drunk" She said and then hissed at Naruto "what the hell have you been saying about me" Sasuke saw Sakura make a fast movement under the table and almost immediately after Naruto flinched and doubled over in pain and tried to hide his smile under his hand so Sakura wouldn't notice his amusement. Sakura turned back to Sasuke again with a smile on her face "He was exaggerating" Sakura said as if the last bit with Naruto had never happened.

"So what really happened?" Sasuke asked, as he wondered if she'd let him have a glimpse of the carefree Sakura from Naruto's memories.

"It was just, you know how it is at university, it was in the first few weeks of my first year and I was out with my flatmates at some university organised bar crawl and we were bored. I'd been talking to Naruto's group for a while and suggested that we all go off somewhere" Sakura said "It was a good night" She said wistfully.

"So the bit about ending up at a dodgy takeaway place was also made up?" Sasuke asked and Sasuke grinned.

"Oh no, all good nights were ended with a dodgy takeaway at university" She said. Sasuke nodded slowly, reflecting that although he apparently had a degree to do his job it had, just like everything else, appeared with him. Unlike Sakura and her friends he had never had any kind of experience like that. It was frustrating and a small part of him wished he'd met the Sakura who had so easily walked off with a group of people she'd just met quite spontaneously.

"I can remember we ended up in some seedy bar before we found this cocktail bar with buy one get one free on the drink, so of course we had to get two each" Sakura said and Sasuke watched her as she ran her finger round the rim of her drink with a faraway look in her eyes. "We were there until it closed and I think between us all we pretty much drank our way though the menu" A brief smile appeared "And then on the way back we found the takeaway place" She said and gave Sasuke a slight smile "I don't think I've ever drunk that much since, which is probably a good thing." Sakura shook her head slightly as if to clear her head.

"That was all a long time ago anyway" She said softly but there was an edge to her voice that suggested to Sasuke that she wouldn't take kindly to him asking any more questions and as Naruto was still rubbing his shin from where Sakura had apparently kicked him earlier Sasuke decided not to push it further. Not that she had told him much anyway, although for a moment there had been an excited look in her eyes that he hadn't seen before.

Sasuke watched Sakura carefully as she chatted to Ino and Chouji, she looked happy, but then again she always looked happy and Sasuke had thought, however arrogantly, that she was at her happiest with him but that apparently wasn't the case and for some reason that bothered Sasuke. If he was supposed to be everything she had ever wanted then why didn't she smile like that just at the sight of him. Sasuke scowled slightly and saw Shikamaru giving him a thoughtful look across the table. Sasuke nodded slightly in his direction and Shikamaru turned away to join Ino and Chouji, who were still deep in conversation with Sakura. There was something unsettling about Shikamaru, it was as if he knew more than he let on, as if he could remember the time when the person know as Sasuke Uchiha didn't exist, or maybe it was nothing at all and that he was just getting paranoid.

Sasuke turned his attention back to Sakura again, he was half listening to what Naruto was saying to him making the odd noise of agreement to seem like he was giving Naruto his full attention. Sakura was laughing as Ino was telling her a story about being at an all you can eat buffet and trying to out eat Chouji, something Sasuke gathered wasn't possible. As Sakura smiled and laughed expressively, sharing her own memories with the other three, Sasuke felt a stab of resentment that he couldn't coax a smile like that out of her even if he tried. Not that he wanted to try, he corrected himself, he just felt that if he was supposed to be everything she ever wanted them it was only right that he could make her as happy as her memories of her more carefree days did.

"Hey, Sasuke are you even listening to me anymore?" Naruto asked poking Sasuke's arm across the table.

"Not really" Sasuke said and Naruto gave him an indignant look.

"What if I was telling you something really important" He said and Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"If it's coming from you then I doubt it would be" He said "anyway I'm going to get another drink"

"I'll come with you" Shikamaru said as he drained the rest of his drink and followed Sasuke away from the others, he noticed Naruto still scowling at Sasuke.

"You seem to be taking a lot of interest in Sakura" Shikamaru said as he rested both him arms on the bar. Sasuke shrugged slightly.

"What of it?" He asked and Shikamaru studied Sasuke's expression thoughtfully and then shrugged as well.

"I don't recall seeing Sakura's ex-boyfriend or anyone else for that matter ever watching her so closely." He said.

"This isn't about Tanzo again is it?" Sasuke asked "I already had a warning off Naruto" Shikamaru shook his head.

"I don't recognise the name" he said.

"I got the impression from Naruto that he was the reason she changed." Shikamaru's puzzled expression cleared and he nodded slightly.

"That was before I knew Sakura really, no one ever told me the guys name, I got the impression that it was a taboo subject" Shikamaru said "it's a terrible thing really" he continued thoughtfully "to lose your heart and never really get it back"

"Is it?" Sasuke asked "what if you never had one to begin with?" Shikamaru gave him a hard look and Sasuke hastily amended what he said "hypothetically, of course"

"Everyone's got a heart" Shikamaru said giving Sasuke a thoughtful look "I think maybe for some people it's just harder for them to find. Things come more naturally to some people than they do to others like Naruto wears his heart on his sleeve an always tells everyone what he's feeling of thinking. You seem to be the more thoughtful type I doubt you'll care for someone so easily. You say that but you still seem very close to Sakura, almost as if you've lost your heart to her in fact." Shikamaru said with a strange smile and Sasuke studied his face carefully, what did he know, Sasuke wondered, did he know anything would be the better question, but Shikamaru didn't seem to notice that Sasuke was putting him under such close scrutiny. "It's funny how "heart" can also mean something like courage or confidence, you can tell people not to lose heart but maybe people mainly need to be brave enough to show they've got one." Sasuke followed Shikamaru's gaze and saw that he had been watching Ino the whole time he said this.

"To have heart" Sasuke said thoughtfully and sighed, running his fingers through his hair "people are far more complicated than anything else I've had to deal with lately." He said.

"That's true enough of everyone" Shikamaru said "People are always changing, always learning something new about themselves and others, we live and learn" Shikamaru raised his glass in a sort of toast and Sasuke copied his movement.

"I guess this means there's hope for me then" He muttered before taking a sip of his drink and wandering back to the table to join Sakura. She smiled up at him when he slid in next to her and somehow, in that moment, Sasuke thought everything could turn out alright, but as she turned away the usual feelings returned, feelings of anger and jealousy that all the people here had something he didn't, the freedom to chose who they gave their heart to.


	7. Chapter 7

Sakura stretched upwards to try and get rid of the stiffness in her back that had developed from spending the day bent over medical records and textbooks. She moved her work off the coffee table in her living room as she began setting out things for when Ino, Hinata and Tenten eventually arrived.

It had been a long time since they had all met up in the bar and just for tonight they were having a girl's night in, which Sakura had been talked into holding at her house. She sighed, it had been a while since she had seen Sasuke as well and she missed having him for company even if he had become prone to long, brooding silences recently she was still able to take some comfort from his presence, it was the sudden and sporadic absences that made her worry about him even thought he turned up after several days as if nothing had changed, as if he'd never been gone.

Sakura was just placing the drinks in the fridge when the doorbell rang. She gave a small smile of satisfaction as they had arrived at the perfect time just as she finished getting everything ready. She had been looking forward to having a girls' night in for ages and now it could serve two purposes, she could have fun with Ino, Hinata and Tenten and at the same time it would stop her missing Sasuke so much as she so often felt lost without him since he had become such a constant fixture in her life. Still she had reasoned things could be much the same as they were before she even knew he existed.

"Sakura!" Ino said as they all piled in to Sakura's hallway, Ino launched herself at her to give her a hug.. "It's been far too long"

"It's been a few weeks" Tenten said "I would have thought by now you two were no longer joined at the hip and could survive without each other"

"That doesn't mean I don't miss her" Ino said, glaring at Tenten over Sakura's shoulder "even if she has replaced me with Sasuke"

"I haven't" Sakura protested and Ino snorted.

"Please" She said "If Tenten thinks we were ever joined at the hip then you and Sasuke are practically joined from the hip all the way up to the shoulder"

"I don't see him that much" Sakura said "I'm not seeing him tonight" She added but Ino just raised her hand to her heart and put on a wounded expression.

"So you're just using us to replace him" She said and Sakura grinned.

"Don't be stupid, I'd put you lot over him any day" She said ushering then all through to the living room and went to retrieve a bottle of wine from the fridge.

"Don't believe her Hinata they were just some pretty words to make us all feel better" Ino said with a grin and Sakura shouted after her,

"Hey, I resent that"

"Don't worry Sakura" Hinata said "Ino's the only one who begrudges you for being happy" This time it was Ino's turn t protests as Tenten laughed.

"You just got insulted by Hinata" She said "that makes it worse as she's the nicest one out of all of us"

"That was cruel Hinata, I thought you were on my side" Ino said and Hinata just shrugged as she sat down on Sakura's sofa.

"I didn't think it would be a good idea to give Sakura an opportunity to kick us all out" She said serenely but then she grinned "besides, then she might just go and seek out Sasuke's company instead of ours"

"Thanks for that" Sakura muttered "are you going to say something about Tenten now to make it even?" She added as she poured out some drinks for them all.

"No I'm good" Hinata said accepting the glass that Sakura offered her.

"That's because I'm obviously her favourite" Tenten said then she added as an afterthought "And I have to be nice to stay in Hinata's good books so she tells Neji all sorts of nice things about me, it's why I gave her a lift here"

"Oh is that why?" Hinata said with a giggle "I did wonder, why did you take Ino as well then?"

"So you wouldn't get suspicious" Tenten said, raising her eyebrows comically.

"That's right, you all just use me when it's convenient" Ino said dramatically.

"So how are things with you and Neji anyway?" Sakura asked "I mean you two had your first date last week didn't you?" Tenten gave them a small smile.

"It was...nice"

"Nice?" Ino said.

"Yeah, I mean we've been friends for quite a while so it was almost as if I'd gone to dinner with one of you but it was also weird in a way as we'd both already labelled it as a date" Tenten shrugged slightly "once we got over all the awkwardness at the end of the night it was fine"

"Did you kiss him?" Ino asked "or did he kiss you?"

"Neither, we actually didn't do anything, it was just a meal and we talked about stuff" Tenten said going slightly pink.

"Stuff?" Ino said suggestively.

"You know, how much we liked each other and why, that kind of stuff"

"I can't believe you had an emotional heart to heart with Neji" Sakura said.

"Why not, as I'm sure Hinata knows Neji can actually be quite sweet"

"I wouldn't say sweet but he can be nice when you're really upset about something" Hinata said "and it usually helps if no one else is around too" she added thoughtfully and Ino laughed.

"Are you two going to go out again?" Ino asked.

"Yes" Tenten said with a shy smile "Next week"

"Aw bless," Ino said "You two would make a cute couple"

"And we'll want to know all about next week as well" Sakura said.

"But not in too much detail if anything happens" Hinata added and Tenten laughed.

"Thanks" She said "and in return I'll try to get Neji to stop intimidating Naruto but I can't make any promises"

"Why would Neji do that?" Hinata asked blankly.

"Oh you know, so he doesn't go near you with any weird romantic intentions, Neji doesn't want any guy to touch you and he's really taken against Naruto since he said you were pretty" Hinata when pink and began fiddling with her hands.

"He-he did?" She squeaked "When?" Tenten grinned at her.

"Oh it was some time ago" She teased and Hinata turned even more red. "At that Christmas party Ino held a few years ago when she was seeing Sai and Sakura was-" She cut herself off suddenly remembering who had accompanied Sakura, "late" Tenten finished weakly.

"Speaking of Sai" Hinata said suddenly in, what Sakura recognised, was an effort to change the subject "He was the last guy you actually dated Ino wasn't he?" Ino shrugged slightly.

"I suppose so" She said thoughtfully.

"It's just been a few years and you used to, well, not be without a boyfriend for so long" Tenten said.

"Is that you trying to say, oh so tactfully, that I used to go through men like tissue paper?" Ino said archly and Tenten shrugged slightly "I'm enjoying being free and single now" Ino said "although I do admit to feeling a little jealous when I see all of you being so loved up"

"We're not loved up" Sakura said and Ino scoffed.

"Please, Neji's been making eyes at Tenten for years and Naruto looks at Hinata the same way an alcoholic looks at a drink, something that's so tempting but has been forbidden by Neji the serious AA mentor" Tenten giggled slightly "And Sasuke virtually follows your every move Sakura" Ino finished. "Sometimes I think it would be nice to have someone look at me like that but, like I said, I'm happy this way" Hinata smiled at her.

"I'm glad" She said softly and Ino leaned forwards.

"Although I have to say" She added in an overly exaggerated whisper "That there are a few people I have my eye on"

"Who?" Sakura asked and Ino hushed her.

"Oh you know people" She said and gave then a bashful smile when they all frowned at her in a silent demand for more details. "Well Shikamaru for one" she said hastily, as if saying his name faster would prevent the other from either hearing or acknowledging it. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case.

"Shikamaru?" Hinata said hesitantly.

"Yes, what of it" Ino said huffily, sitting back and folding her arms.

""Nothing" Hinata said.

"I think she's just surprised" Sakura said "we all are" Ino shrugged slightly and took a swig of her drink.

"What's so surprising about it, he's nice and he has, in a way, always been there for me" She said.

"He's kind of different than the type you usually go for" Tenten said.

"Yeah and look how that's been working out" Ino said "But seriously, it's not just that he's kind it's just, I think I notice him more than I did before and he makes me feel good about myself"

"Are you going to do anything about it?" Hinata asked and Ino shrugged.

"I don't think so" She said and raised her hand when she saw the others were about to protest "I mean I like Shikamaru but there are other guys that I meet and think are quite sweet and besides Shikamaru's special so I don't want to throw away years of friendship on a whim" Tenten frowned slightly at this.

"A whim" She said flatly and Ino looked horrified.

"I didn't mean that" She said quickly "Not for you and Neji, I mean, you two are perfect for each other and I swear you've been in love with each other for years before he actually asked you out. But with Shikamaru I'm not sure how I feel really"

"Hmm" Tenten said and then after a while she smiled "Its fine" She said "I get it anyway, I don't think I ever told any of you but Neji asked me out once before a few months ago and I said no"

"You did?" Sakura asked and Tenten nodded.

"I told him that I was worried about what would happen to us if we ever broke up, we have the same friends after all and it could get really awkward"

"So why did he ask you out again?" Hinata asked.

"Well, let's just say that I made it very clear that I had changed my mind" Tenten said.

"How though?" Hinata asked and Tenten went red.

"You remember that night a few weeks back when we all went out for a drink?" She said and the others nodded "Well later, after Sasuke had left with you to make sure you got safely home n the dark" Tenten said with a pointed look at Sakura "It was very cute by the way, I told Neji that I really liked him and when he asked whether I was still worried about spoiling our friendship I told him that I thought it could be worth the risk" Tenten smiled shyly "So he asked me out again" Sakura smiled slightly and they all fell silent for a while as they considered Tenten's story.

"I suppose" Ino said slowly "we should now move on to Sakura" Sakura looked startled.

"Me?" She said "I haven't got anything to really talk about"

"As if we believe that" Tenten said.

"Because now it's the part of the evening we've all been waiting for" Ino said with a grin "let's talk about you and Sasuke and the relationship that you insist isn't there, but we know better." Sakura laughed slightly.

"There's really nothing to talk about" She said "We just hang out and talk."

"Right, _talk_" Ino said somehow making the word sound suggestive so Sakura threw a cushion at her.

"No really, we talk" She said. "But it's nice you know, there's no pressure of it being anything like a date or anything"

"You keep telling yourself that" Tenten said dryly and Sakura laughed slightly.

"Yeah, well. It's been working for me so far"

"But that still doesn't mean you don't want anything else to happen" Ino said and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Maybe, maybe not" She said but she was unable to hide the small smile of her face at Ino's suggestion.

"Are you two even moving towards being a couple?" Ino asked sounding confused "or are you just going to stay close friends after all that?" Sakura shifted uncomfortably as her friends turned their full attention on her.

"Just friends, that's all I swear" She added when Ino narrowed her eyes at her "sometimes it feels like more than friendly feelings to me anyway, but I think that might just be wishful thinking on my part"

"Aren't you tempted to do something about that?" Tenten asked "I mean a lot of the time I've seen you two together you seem like you're dating anyway, so why don't you, I don't know-"

"Just grab him and kiss him" Ino interjected enthusiastically and Hinata found herself wondering if everything was so simple in Ino's world, from the look on Sakura and Tenten's face it seemed they were just as stunned by the suggestion. "then you can see where that leads and if he doesn't make an effort to strip you of your clothes after all this time you've spent together then he's a lost cause" Ino continued blithely.

"Ino!" Hinata protested, shocked Ino's attitude to relationships.

"Why would I do anything like that?" Sakura asked incredulously "especially after-" She looked away after cutting herself off abruptly and Ino gave her a sad smile.

"I know"

"I asked Sasuke about it one time" Sakura said awkwardly "you know, what we were, like friends or something else, he said not to think about it too much because it felt good" She flushed slightly and Ino grinned at her.

"So why do you always say you're just friends" Tenten said.

"Because the most we've ever done is hug and I hug you lot all the time it's nothing ground breaking." Sakura said and then she sighed "and anyway after that we seem to have settled into some kind of friendship and at the moment I don't see us going much further unless he does something about it"

"Ah Sakura you're so old fashioned, waiting for him to make the first move" Ino teased and Sakura smiled shyly.

"Well it would show if he's really interested in me" Sakura said, trying to keep her voice light. She looked down slightly thinking about the last few times she had seen Sasuke, he had sometimes seemed annoyed as if he had only come to see her grudgingly and on the other occasions he had been either distracted or strangely enthusiastic to see her. She smiled up at the others trying to put Sasuke's strange mood swings out of her mind.

"Maybe it's for the best" Hinata said slowly "You two should take things slowly and see what happens, you haven't really known each other that long and you don't know each other that well yet" Sakura nodded thoughtfully.

"I'd like to though" She said "I always get the impression that there's a lot he doesn't tell me, and sometimes it seems to bother him but maybe someday he'll feel able to tell me these things"

"But the thing is" Ino said seriously "the best thing about Sasuke is that, in the few times I've seem you with him; he seems to make you so happy. With him you become just like the Sakura I first met. So all joking aside just do whatever you feel is right with him, if you're most comfortable just sitting, passing the time watching TV with him then do it." Sakura smiled slightly.

"Thanks Ino" She said softly "If I ever need another motivational speech later I'll come to you" Ino stuck her tongue out at her.

"I thought that was quite good actually" She said.

"Not it was. I appreciated it, really" Sakura said and Ino gave her a disapproving look before they both started laughing at how ridiculous they both sounded.

In a different part of the city, away from the four women sharing stories and laughter, a man who felt he had no real identity stood in his house amongst the patchwork of coloured paints on his walls. He stepped back over the mass of the tester paint pots he had collected over the past week or so and considered the different colours laid out meticulously in neat rows with the name of the paint scribbled underneath. Sasuke had discovered that he liked things laid out neatly so the squares of paint lined up on the wall gave him a small amount of satisfaction. He tilted his head back as he scrutinised the colours, trying to find one that he really liked rather than the beige colour that dominated most of the house that he felt only indifference to.

He frowned slightly before picking up is pencil and scoring a line through a dark orange colour, it strangely enough reminded him far too much of Naruto for him to like it that much, and then began systematically crossing off some other colours, his hand hovered over a deep red that was similar to one of the walls in Sakura's living room, and he had a vague recollection of the other three being a cream colour, he lowered his hand slightly as he considered the colour for a moment and all the things he associated with it, Sakura being the most predominant, before he drew a thick line through it as well.


	8. Chapter 8

Today turned out to be something of a momentous occasion for Sakura, in the months she had known Sasuke and he had been round her home she was finally allowed to visit his. He had rung her up and before she had even suggested meeting up or his coming over to see her he had asked, almost out of the blue, if she wanted to come over, and now she stood awkwardly outside for a moment as she looked up at the building. It looked fairly new, unlike her house which had what the estate agent optimistically called "charm", or as Sakura saw it, it had the potential to have many hidden problems like cracks in the walls and cupboards in her kitchen that used to fall apart until had she spend her weekends gluing them together again. It looked like Sasuke wouldn't be encountering these types of problems where he lived.

Sakura rang the doorbell and shifted from foot to foot as she waited for Sasuke to open the door. When it had finally clicked open Sakura had already wound herself into a state of nerves and no matter how many times she convinced herself that she was just visiting Sasuke, the same Sasuke she had spent countless hours with, but somehow it was all too different when she was going to his house and she felt like a schoolgirl visiting her boyfriend's house for the first time, it brought about the same amount of thrill and anticipation.

"Hey" Sasuke said, causing Sakura to give a startled squeak as she had turned to look down the road and consequently hadn't noticed him opening the door.

"Sasuke" She said turning to greet him with a warm smile. Sakura giggled slightly as she took in his appearance, he wore a lose t-shirt and jeans but what mostly caught her attention was the odd paint splatters in his clothes. He gave her a half smile and stepped to the side to let her in.

"I've been repainting the house" He said and as Sakura took a step into the hallway she was met by the tangy smell of paint. "It's a bit of a mess" Sasuke said as he picked his way across the covered furniture and tins of paint "and it should be dry but be careful of the walls" He called back to her and Sakura took a few hesitant steps after him. She found him pulling cloth off the sofa and he signalled for her to sit down.

"Thanks" Sakura muttered and perched on the edge of the chair.

"I'll be back in a bit" Sasuke said and disappeared through a door, Sakura took this as an opportunity to look round the room she was in. It was completely bare, but she supposed that was to be expected if Sasuke was redecorating. She found it funny that he was repainting the entire house in one go rather than trying to sort it out room by room but then again he often did things that seemed fuelled by Sasuke-logic and not the everyday kind. Sasuke came back into the living room wearing a different t-shirt and Sakura smiled at him.

"You look like you've been busy" She said.

"Yeah" Sasuke said running his fingers through his hair, "I was getting fed up of seeing beige walls everywhere." Sakura gave him a sympathetic smile.

"How long have you lived here?" She asked, suddenly curious as Sasuke was usually rather close mouthed about these kind of things.

"Just a few months."

"It's nice" She said and Sasuke glanced round the sparely furnished room.

"Is it?" Sasuke said absently. And Sakura paused slightly as Sasuke's expression was once again closed off.

"So you've been doing this room today" Sakura said trying to bring the conversation back to a more neutral topic, Sasuke looked surprised for a moment until she pointed out the flecks of pale blue paint in his hair. She giggled as Sasuke pulled some of his hair in front of his eyes and squinted at it.

"Great" Sasuke muttered before pushing his hair out of his eyes again and he frowned at Sakura as she continued laughing.

"Sorry, you just looked-" She waved her hand slightly unable to express what she wanted to say "I don't know"

"Funny, apparently" Sasuke said dryly.

"Maybe a little" Sakura said.

"Mmm." They fell silent.

"I always wondered what your house would be like" Sakura said, hoping that Sasuke would be more receptive to a comment on his home "Just to look at what it was like, you know how people just collect stuff over the years, general clutter, I like seeing what people have" She looked around the spare room which only had furniture and paint pots in it "I suppose I can't really do that now"

"I don't really have anything like that" Sasuke said and Sakura tilted her head to look at him.

"Oh?"

"I suppose I've never found anything yet that I think is significant enough to keep"

""Wow, I'm impressed, I seem to have just accumulated all this stuff, postcards and souvenirs from places and things from when I was little, that I can't bear to throw anything away" Her smile faded slightly, it was something that was always a bone of contention between herself and Tanzo who couldn't believe the boxes of stuff she had tidied away, old postcards from Ino and other friends from holidays, pictures of places she had visited, maps and guides that she had kept, not so she could go back, but for the memories they represented. Tanzo had always preferred a more minimalistic approach to living. She wondered if Sasuke might be the same.

"It must be nice" Sasuke said.

"Hmm?" Sakura was jerked out of her daze "What was that?"

"It must be nice" He said "To be able to look at things and see the memories they represent"

"Yeah" She said softly, glad that Sasuke was different to Tanzo in that respect but at the same time she felt some annoyance that she had started comparing them. Then there was silence again, this time longer and more awkward.

"This is stupid" Sakura said finally "I don't know why it feels weird meeting at your house instead of mine, it's not like it's that different" Sasuke looked up at her.

"Well it is" He said.

"No, I mean, obviously it's a different place but it's still us" She felt herself going red as Sasuke watched her carefully.

"Do you want to watch a film" He said suddenly and Sakura shrugged.

"Sure" She said settling back into the sofa, "what have you got?"

After the rather familiar argument over what to watch Sasuke moved to sit next to Sakura and they fell into, a more comfortable, silence. A few moments passed before Sakura shifted so she had her legs resting over Sasuke's and he moved so she could lean against him more comfortably. They exchanged a brief smile as they resumed the positions they usually adopted on Sakura's sofa.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura as the colours of the television light up the room and were reflected on her face. Her comments on the lack of clutter in his house, easily explained by the fact that he was redecorating, had given Sasuke something to think about. He had gained a few items over the last few months as he spent several days at a time away from Sakura trying for find a sense of self. It was something he didn't think he could achieve in the close proximity of Sakura as he sometimes felt he had nothing beyond her in his life.

He thought about the small box that he had packed the few personal items in, including the small statue that he had gotten after his long journey away from Sakura in the city that was the farthest away he could go, and even then as he had handed over the money for it he had noticed the tips of his fingers still looked like they were fading away. Luckily the cashier hadn't noticed but Sasuke supposed that was because it wasn't what people really looked for and he had found that most people don't look beyond what they expect to see like the majority of his co-workers believed that Sasuke had always been there and it was only Shikamaru who seemed to have problems truly accepting the new version of events Sasuke's existence had created.

Sakura shifted slightly next to him and for once Sasuke felt at peace. Sakura always made him feel that way as if he could only ever think clearly with her nearby but at the same time with her smiling up at him his mind seemed to lose the ability to function and all he could think about was her, and he wondered if this was what it was like for everyone.

Sasuke turned his attention back to the film but it wasn't long before something else began bothering him. He had always known Sakura to sit quietly through a film and sometimes she could be so still that if it wasn't for her leaning on him Sasuke could forget she was there. Tonight, however, she kept shifting ever so slightly next to him, he watched her out of the corner of his eyes as every so often she'd frown and then her eyes would flick up to his face before she began fidgeting again.

"Sakura" Sasuke said after they had spent most of the film in a tense silence "is everything okay?"

"What? Yes, everything's fine" Sakura said and Sasuke just looked at her.

"Does it really bother you that we're here and not at your house?" Sasuke asked and although he could understand it as her house was a model he associated with the word homely he couldn't help feeling a bit offended.

"No, it's not that" She said "It's nice being here, now I can picture where you live. I sometimes wondered what your house looked like and now my curiosity is satisfied" She smiled up at him and moved her legs off his so she could sit with her knees drawn up to her chin. Somehow Sasuke felt the loss of her warmth more than he expected to. "Although I suppose I'll have to try and get another invite so I can see it when you've finished painting everything." Sasuke gave her a small smile.

"Well you're welcome anytime, it's only fair considering the amount of time I've been round your house." He said and Sakura nodded thoughtfully. "So what's really bothering you?" He asked and Sakura shrugged.

"It's just Ino putting stupid thoughts into my head" She said and she let out a startled squeak when Sasuke leaned closer to her to get a good look at her face.

"Really?" He asked curiously as Sakura began to curse Ino in her head. _Just grab him and kiss him_ she thought savagely _what kind of advice was that, now I can't get that idea out of my head._ She looked at Sasuke's expression as he studied her face, he was frowning slightly as he thought she was lying and his hair had fallen over his eyes again. _Damn Ino_. She thought, _just when we were getting on nicely as friends she's just reminded me how, well, attractive he is. _

"Really" Sakura said and Sasuke turned away to look at the television again.

"Okay, if you say so" He muttered and began to tune into Sakura's feelings, he had tried not to use his bond with Sakura lately, preferring to interact with her in the same way everyone else would but this time he was too curious not to use this to his advantage. Although Sakura had settled down somewhat he could still feel her agitation.

"So what was it that Ino said?" He asked and smiled to himself when he felt the alarm she so desperately tried to hide.

"Um" Sakura said and Sasuke could tell she was desperately trying to think of something to tell him, something other than the truth. "It's just Ino putting weird ideas into my head"

"Like what?" Sasuke asked and Sakura flushed slightly.

"Just things really" She said and Sasuke gave her a sceptical look.

"Just things wouldn't make you so fidgety, come on tell me" He said and moved his hand to jab Sakura in the ribs and she squeaked as he hit the ticklish spot Sasuke had discovered a few weeks ago so she sat up straight and scowled at Sasuke who was still slouched on the sofa.

"No we were just talking about things" Sakura said.

"Popular topic that" Sasuke muttered and this time Sakura gave him a poke.

"Talking about _things_" She said to try and annoy him but Sasuke just gave her a bored look "And Ino said that sometimes she wishes she had a boyfriend"

"And what, you feel the same?" He asked looking up at her and Sakura looked flustered under his stare.

"No it's not that" She said slumping down next to him on the sofa "I like things the way they are at the moment with us, I mean why spoil a good thing right?" She said feeling suddenly self conscious as Sasuke scrutinised her expression with a look that made her wonder if he could tell that she had thought about what it would be like if they were a couple, and most of the time she had imagined that they would act exactly the same and just spend time watching bad movies and just spending time together.

"What if it's not spoiling it" He said as he pushed himself up so they were eye to eye. Sakura stared at him and feelings of confusion, hesitation and a strange wistfulness played across her face. Sasuke moved closer to her and carefully watched her face for any misgivings but seeing none he cupped her face in his hand and leaned forward still, kissed her softly before pulling back to gauge her reaction. Sakura gave him a shy smile before fisting her hands in his top and pulling him back down to kiss him again. Sasuke slowly moved his hands from her face so he could wrap his arms around her and bring her closer to him. They kissed slowly and Sakura felt as if the entire world had dropped into her lap, Sasuke was kind and could be really sweet when he wanted to be, he was everything she ever wanted all rolled into one and it was wonderful. And then all thoughts disappeared as Sasuke ran his hand up her back and into her hair to pull her even closer to him.

For the first time Sasuke felt as if he didn't have two warring parts in his head, one striving for independence and the other reaching back towards Sakura. At that time, as he had first kissed her neither seemed to matter, there was only Sakura in his thoughts and for once that didn't bother him one bit. Sasuke pulled back and gave her a broad smile.

"That wasn't spoiling it, was it ?" He asked and Sakura grinned at him, a large uninhibited grin, one that was so different from any of the ones he had seen before.

"No, not spoiling it at all" She said and Sasuke was strangely proud that he could make Sakura so happy with, what was to him, such an easy gesture to make. Kissing Sakura felt right, but then again of course it would if he was supposed to be perfect for her, he just never expected it to be that...satisfactory on both sides.

"This is going to make things awkward isn't it?" Sakura said after a while and Sasuke shrugged slightly, keeping his arms around her waist.

"It'll be fine" He said "it's us isn't it?" Sakura smiled slightly as she settled back into his side.

"Whatever that means" She said and Sasuke smiled.

"I'm sure we'll find out" He said and as they turned their attention back to the television they saw that the credits were rolling at the end of the film but neither of them had been paying too much attention to what had been happening anyway.

They stayed next to each other as the credits ran to the end, both reluctant to move and let the words scroll up the screen without really looking at them. Sakura listened to the rhythm of Sasuke's breathing and tried to match the time she inhaled with Sasuke, she felt content or even happy for a moment and she wanted to enjoy it while it lasted before the complications of life got in the way. Sakura frowned slightly as she rested her hand over Sasuke's chest, she could feel her own heart still racing from he kissed her but it was strange that she could feel nothing from Sasuke himself not even a regular heartbeat. It was strange but as Sasuke shifted next to her letting her cuddle up to the warmth of his body more all puzzling thoughts like that were forgotten, for now. Sasuke shifted beside her, moving his arm into a more comfortable position around her he ducked his head slightly to kiss her on the crown of her head.

"Are you alright?" He asked and Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, I'm great" Sakura said smiling up at him.

"Good" Sasuke said using the arm he had around Sakura to draw her closer he kissed her again. This time on the lips and Sakura moved her hand up to the side of his face, shifting in her seat slightly to accommodate him better. They kissed over and over again until it felt to Sakura as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and in between short kisses they talked as they had before as if nothing had changed.

Some time later Sakura lingered in Sasuke's hallway unsure what to say after all that had happened between them that night. Despite all the thoughts and reservations she had had about them being a couple, once Sasuke had actually kissed her, and kissed her quite a lot, most rational thought had gone out the window and although her relationship with Sasuke wasn't changed exactly the events of the evening still made her want to do a happy dance out of the sheer exhilaration she felt.

"Well, goodbye Sasuke" Sakura said after a long pause. A pause that she hoped he understood contained all her gladness, the desire to see him again without him changing his mind on her, the "I'm glad we did this" as he had smoothed away any doubts without saying anything, and then there was maybe even an "I think I could fall in love with you" deep down somewhere.

"See you" Sasuke said with a half smile, Sakura gave him one last smile of her own before turning to make her way down the street. Sasuke leant against the doorframe and watched her go and saw her do a sort of skip down the road when she thought no one was looking. Sasuke smiled slightly, he didn't need to consciously use the bond between them to find out what she was feeling, he could almost see the excitement coming off her in waves, he turned away from Sakura's giddy figure before she turned the corner and went back inside. Sasuke sat back down on the sofa and put his head in his hands. He wasn't sure what to feel anymore, part of him was glad he had kissed her but another part was full of regret. There was no going back for him now and he had grown fond of Sakura and he didn't want to hurt her, even if he thought that it was inevitable in the long run.

Sasuke groaned. What had he gotten himself in for?


	9. Chapter 9

Ever since they exchanged those first few hesitant kisses the days flew by for Sakura and soon coasted into weeks, and most of them were spent seeing Sasuke every few days but each time Sakura saw him it was like a dream. Everyone she knew commented that she seemed to be bursting with happiness and Sasuke could always feel her excitement fizzing over into his own consciousness which both frustrated him and filled him with a strange sense of male pride that he could inspire such joy in her.

He wanted to do it again, to feel what it was like to kiss her again, to hold her again. He'd spent many restless nights at war with himself wanting to be close to Sakura but at the same time wanting to turn away from her and keep running until, well until he was nothing. Until he fade out of existence.

But there was still that human instinct, that damnable need for self preservation, the desire to keep living through pain, through tears, or even no matter what. He was human enough to want to live, human in every aspect except being able to love whoever he wanted to, he was bound to Sakura who held his heart without even knowing it. But every so often Sasuke wondered whether, if given the choice, he'd want to give his heart to someone else anyway, it was something that made Sasuke pause before shaking his head and dismissing the thought. It wasn't like Sakura was the only person for him, he'd heard countless stories of couples desperately in love who only end up breaking up later and finding new lives apart, with new loves. But then Sasuke could only imagine the hurt expression on Sakura face and how she would feel if he told her, maybe not the whole truth but just that he couldn't be with her. He wondered if it would tear her apart, he wondered if it would tear him apart – literally.

He still found himself outside Sakura's house, facing that familiar door and had rung the bell before he'd even really thought about it. He was greeted by a warm smile as Sakura answered.

"I hope you don't mind the mess" She said softly as they headed into the living room and Sasuke raised his eyebrows slightly, it wasn't what he would have called particularly untidy, there were a few things that looked out of place. Although it was certainly the most untidy he had ever seen Sakura's house.

"Have you not got round to cleaning it yet then?" Sasuke asked and Sakura shrugged.

"Not really, it's more that I can't be bothered to at the moment" She looked at Sasuke's expression "and don't comment on that please, I've already had Ino giving me a huge speech about how she's so proud I'm not so anal about things anymore." Sasuke shrugged slightly.

"What does t matter to her anyway" He said and Sakura shook her head slightly.

"Oh you know Ino, she just has to be nosy about everything"

"That seems to be a common trait in your friends" Sasuke muttered and Sakura smiled slightly.

"What, has Naruto been bugging you again? I can tell him to stop you know" She said and somehow, coming from Sakura, the idea of telling Naruto to do something sounded as if it would involve lots of threats and a sharp object or two.

"Its fine, I'm not particularly bothered" Sasuke said "He just has this uncanny knack of turning up at work whenever my lunch hour is even when it's at different times"

"Well in that case he's either stalking you" Sakura said glancing at Sasuke's expression as he gave her one of distaste at that comment "or he's somehow conned Shikamaru into telling him when you're on a break"

"The idiot" Sasuke said.

"And here I was hoping you two would somehow magically get on" Sakura said with a sigh and Sasuke snorted.

"He's really loud"

"And so am I, and so is Ino and she's my best friend"

"I can tolerate Ino and you're not so bad" Sasuke said and Sakura gave him an exasperated look.

"Not so bad" She repeated "Would it kill you to say a compliment sometime" She said moving to lean against him of the sofa.

"I think it would actually" Sasuke said as he raised his hand so he could fiddle with Sakura's hair.

"Don't be ridiculous, you're so unromantic" Sakura said.

"I'll remember to work on that for you" Sasuke said archly and Sakura giggled.

"Don't be silly" She said "I wouldn't want you to do that anyway, I like you the way you are now so don't ever feel you have to change" Sasuke looked down at the top of her head thoughtfully and his hand stilled in her hair. Sakura looked up at him curiously. "What?"

"I thought you did" He said and Sakura looked puzzled "Naruto told me you've changed"

"When did he say that?" Sakura asked sitting up to so she could look Sasuke in the face, he shrugged slightly.

"A while ago" Sasuke watched Sakura carefully as she slumped in the chair and all the life seemed to go out of her. "What happened?" He asked softly and Sakura glanced up at him through her hair before looking away again, suddenly looking so forlorn that Sasuke almost felt sorry for asking, almost, he still had a strange sense of curiosity that he wanted to know what Sakura had gone though to have felt lonely enough to pull someone into existence.

"What was it?" Sasuke asked as he moved so he was facing Sakura holding her hands in his "What happened to make you the way you are now?"

"What uptight?" Sakura asked and Sasuke shook his head slightly. _Why do you seem so lonely at times_, he wanted to know but there was no easy way to ask that.

"You're not uptight" Sasuke said and Sakura snorted.

"Tanzo certainly seemed to think so" She muttered savagely and Sasuke just watched her carefully before choosing his next words

"It's more like, you've become so fixed on things having to be a certain way and you don't like things changing" He said and Sakura ducked her head down refusing to look at him.

"No one likes change" Sakura muttered and Sasuke frowned at her.

"But most people deal with it and adapt you try your hardest not to" He said bluntly and Sakura sighed.

"There was a boy" She said lightly as if she was telling the story about another person "who I loved very much, I felt like he was my whole world and I would happily drop everything for him but then one day he said he thought my job meant more to me than him" Sasuke gently squeezed her hands as Sakura trailed off slightly lost in her own memories and he could feel how she was still upset about what had passed between herself and an old boyfriend. "So he left me, after a fashion" Sakura continued as she stared at the floor "he said he wanted someone younger who wasn't apparently 'married to their job' which apparently meant someone fresh out of high school who didn't mind being the "other woman" in our relationship so every time I was too busy to see him he was off having sex with her" Sasuke frowned as he realised she was repeating what they had told her and despite wanting to understand why Sakura had inadvertently created him he didn't like to see her sitting in front of him looking so upset, something about it was unsettling so he pulled her towards him until she lost her balance and landed in his lap so Sasuke could wrap his arms around her.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked sounding confused but he didn't say anything and Sakura relaxed and allowed herself to feel strangely comforted in his embrace.

"He always told me he loved me and I believed him" Sakura said, her voice cracking slightly as she tried to contain her emotions "He was the first person I really loved and I thought we'd never be apart, we even lived together and on some nights when I had to do full shifts and slept at the hospital Tanzo brought that girl into our home, we were talking about marriage" Sasuke held her closer as even despite the constant pull towards Sakura, Sasuke found that he genuinely wanted to comfort the girl who had put all her trust into one man only to have it completely shattered.

"Sakura you can't let what he did to you affect your whole life" Sasuke said softly and he felt Sakura sigh.

"I know but I just wanted him to be happy and I thought that I was the person who could do that" She looked up at him, her eyes over bright with tears and Sasuke felt strange, unable to identify the feelings in him but he knew that he couldn't resent Sakura anymore. She had been well and truly broken by a man she had loved and had trusted completely and Sasuke found that he couldn't begrudge her for not wanting to be lonely.

In the months he had been around Sasuke felt a distance between himself and everyone else, a boundary that he couldn't quite cross, at first because he didn't know how to talk to the people who spoke to him as if they had known him all their lives and then it had become a self inflicted barrier between himself and the rest of the world. But at this moment, with Sakura, the walls that both of them had built up, all the pretences and assurances that everything was fine fell away and Sasuke began to feel something more than the usual connection he felt to Sakura, as if something was bubbling under the surface that he just couldn't figure out just yet.

"Do you think it was my fault?" Sakura asked and Sasuke had to pull himself back to reality and remind himself what they had been talking about "did I just fail to make him happy?" Sasuke shook his head.

"No, it's not you" He said softly and ducked his head to kiss her as he had done many nights ago when they had shared their first kiss. They moved gently, carefully, as Sasuke pulled Sakura onto his lap and she settled there as she kissed him back, her hands were tangled into his hair and she could feel the warmth of his hands on her back as he pulled her closer to him. Sakura pulled back, gasping slightly, to gauge Sasuke's expression and he leaned in again to give her another quick kiss.

"There's nothing wrong with you" Sasuke said firmly and Sakura nodded slowly, trying to believe his words and Sasuke tugged her towards him again to kiss her on the side of her mouth, Sakura giggled and turned her head rested her forehead against him "So don't ever think that" He said.

"Okay" Sakura whispered and Sasuke cupped the side of her face with his hand so he could kiss her again. He wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the low humming noise in the back of his mind, he felt a sort of lightness in him that he presumed was because he was glad Sakura had finally opened up to him, rather than feeling burdened by the story of her ex-boyfriend, something she hadn't even told people who were as close to her as Naruto was, he was happy Sakura felt she could confide in him. _After all what else was he here for_, the thought, unwonted, rose in the back of his mind and he pulled away from Sakura.

"Sasuke?" She asked "Are you alright?" He blinked and looked down at Sakura who was looking up at him anxiously, as if she thought he was going to stand up and leave her alone again. Sasuke gave her a small smile.

"Yeah" He said and then paused "I'm glad I met you" He added and it was the truth. Sakura certainly had a gift for brightening his day even if he was feeling particularly resentful at her unwillingly pulling him into existence one look at her face, her smile, made him glad to be with her.

"I'm glad I met you too" Sakura whispered.

"I know" He moved closer and Sakura smiled, leaning towards him to beat him to it, to kiss him first this time and she felt Sasuke smile slightly against her mouth. They kissed again and Sakura felt a strange tightness in her chest as excitement and nervousness flooded her body.

Sakura wondered when it had all become so easy, how they had slipped from acquaintances to close friends to – this. Whatever this was. Although she definitely couldn't say she was unhappy with the sudden turn of events. Quite the opposite in fact. Sakura had laid herself bare to him, told Sasuke one of the biggest secrets she had and he had sat there and listened to her. She hoped one day that he would open up to her and reveal the big mystery of Sasuke's life but for now she was quite happy to let him kiss away the pain she had felt over the past few years. And he was doing that _very_ well.

She moved her arms up to wrap around Sasuke neck and he took advantage of this movement to shift his hands up to touch the skin that had just been revealed, his thumbs tracing small patterns across her sides. It was nice, he reflected, to think of only Sakura right now without any conflicting feelings as right now every fibre of his being wanted to be with her, well, maybe that was an exaggeration but Sasuke knew there was nowhere else he'd rather be right now that with Sakura. Even if he could go half way round the world without disappearing.

Sakura pulled away from him and stared into his eyes, he brought his hand up to cup the side of her face but she reached up and took his hand instead. Still watching Sasuke's expression carefully Sakura stood up, pulling Sasuke to his feet as well. She stood of tiptoes to briefly kiss him before leading him out of the living room.

The time for rational thought was over, it had been since the night Sasuke had first kissed her really and they both knew there was no going back from there. Sasuke looked surprised when Sakura went up the first few stairs in the hallway and when she turned to look at him with such an uncertain expression on her face, as if she was expecting him to back away there and then, but Sasuke just kissed her, the stairs making them the same height. He kissed her again, and again, and again. He felt strange, there was a unusual buzzing in the back of his skull and he felt more in control that he had in, years wasn't the word for it he had technically only existed for just over half the year, it was just that he had never felt so in control of his life as he did now. And now all he wanted to do was kiss Sakura.

It was Sakura who broke away from him again, but she took his hand and gently led him further up the stairs to the door of her bedroom. They kissed again softly before Sasuke tried to hold her closer to him and Sakura, with one hand in his hair, felt her way down to the door handle before opening it to pull Sasuke inside.


	10. Chapter 10

Sakura could tell that her life was unravelling and the careful control she had exercised in her life since Tanzo had dumped her had began to slowly crumbling away since the day she first ran into Sasuke as she had found herself diving head first into unknown waters as she allowed him even further into her life. She sighed and opened her eyes and was greeted by the familiar sight of her bedroom ceiling, not so familiar though, was the warm male presence sharing the bed with her and the fact that she was completely naked. Sakura stared up at the ceiling as she tried to figure out if this was a bad thing or not.

Maybe, she thought, things were moving too fast it hadn't been that long since they had first kissed after all, although they had known each other for almost half a year now and things had fallen into place so easily it was no wonder she was half in love with him, if she wasn't head over heels for him already, Sasuke made everything so easy for her to just let go of all her hesitancy and doubts that she had been left with from her previous relationship but she wondered what would happen when their relationship would begin to go sour, she knew things couldn't stay perfect all the time and after a few weeks they'd come up to something that would make or break the relationship and even if they got through that there would be more problems, trials and tests for them to go through.

She sighed again, maybe a life of mad spinsterhood in an attic would be a much easier option at his moment in time. Surely as a spinster that meant she could still have sex right? Sakura wasn't sure she wanted to give that up yet, not for a long time anyway. Especially with someone as delicious as Sasuke. She groaned quietly and pulled the duvet over her head, she was making things complicated already and he hadn't even woken up yet. She felt Sasuke shift next to her as he rolled over to face her and Sakura poked her head out the duvet to peer sideways at his peaceful expression.

Sakura wondered what made up a solid relationship and if she could ever achieve one with Sasuke after the spectacular disasters her previous relationships had been. She didn't really have an example of one among her friends who were either similarly just embarking on one or happy to flit from one man to another. The only potential role models she had were her parents who after over thirty years of being happily married still seemed very much in love. She wondered how they did it. She reached out to touch Sasuke's hair softly, feeling that he was very much real and next to her, as if his extra body heat wasn't enough and his being there was just a strange, and rather wistful, product of her imagination.

She knew she was scared, that Sasuke had the capacity to break her heart more fully than anyone else after she had opened her arms and let him into her life, and into her heart, he had gotten to know her more intimately than anyone else and in return she had learnt very little about him. She didn't even know where he came from, where he was born, about his family, anything.

Sakura sighed softly and then started as she noticed that Sasuke was awake next to her and had been watching her for some time.

"What?" She asked pulling her hand away from him as Sasuke gave her a slight smile.

"It's nothing" He said, sitting up and shifting his weight onto his elbow he examined the awkward expression on Sakura's face he smirked slightly before leaning forward to kiss Sakura on the side of her mouth. She flushed lightly as he kissed her cheek, and then her throat and she giggled when he placed a kiss on her collar bone. He began to move down her body pressing soft kisses across her skin and Sakura found herself giggling at the feather light touches so Sasuke sat back with a quizzical look on his face.

"Stop that, its tickles" She said.

"But what if I do want to try and kiss you everywhere" Sasuke said, lowering his mouth to her stomach. Sakura felt herself flush as he planted a kiss close to her belly button.

"Uh-" Sakura said and she felt, rather than heard, Sasuke laugh against her skin. She tried to hit him but it was awkward and she was only able to hit him feebly in the top of his head. Sasuke sat back and gave her a half smile.

"What's wrong?" He said as he saw the serious expression on her face.

"Is this going to be okay?" Sakura asked and Sasuke shrugged.

"We'll just have to wait and see" Sakura sighed exasperated and Sasuke gave her a quizzical look.

"Don't you ever worry about things?" Sakura muttered threading her fingers in between Sasuke's.

"Yes, but it doesn't mean that I can change anything" Sasuke said softly looking at their entwined hands.

"What things do you think about?" She asked.

"Just, you know, life" He said.

"Life, the universe and everything?" Sakura said with a small smile.

"Well my life anyway"

"What about your life?" She asked and Sasuke sighed wondering if he could ever put half his troubles into words

"Do you ever feel like things are getting out of your control and I don't know, do you ever feel like running away sometimes?" Sakura frowned slightly as she considered the question. Sasuke watched her studiously with an odd expression on his face, it was as if the answer to this question really mattered to him somehow.

"I used to" She said slowly "That's why I used to have such a scheduled life, it made me feel back in control after I felt so out of it after Tanzo dumped me and I needed that feeling that, I don't know, that if I could just hold on to something's in my life and make then right or perfect then it could make everything else alright so if I manage to get through all the lists of things to do I'd constructed in my head then I knew I was getting on with things and it was kind of satisfying.

"I've never wanted to run away from things that much I don't think, mostly whenever things got tough I just wanted to go home to my parents where I could stay in my old room and it was almost like everything always seemed much simple at home when I was younger" She glanced at Sasuke "Is that what you meant, does that help?" Sasuke didn't say anything for a while and seemed to be studying the cluttered shelves of ornaments and books opposite.

"Sometimes I think that maybe, I don't know" He said pausing as he sorted out his thoughts "do you ever think that you could be someone else if you wanted to"

"Someone else? You can't really change who you are Sasuke" Sakura said softly, sitting up and pulling the duvet covers with her "Not everything anyway, I think that you can be a more confidant person in time, but I don't believe you can just rewrite who you are, why what's bothering you?" Sasuke stared at her wondering how he could feel so much for this one woman at the same time. He wanted to hold her, to kiss her again and at the same tome he wanted to shout at her, to tell her how he had come into her life, to walk away from her, to hold her close. The faint humming in his mind that he had noticed the night before increased slightly and he felt a slight pressure in his head.

"Never mind, it's stupid" Sasuke said when he realised Sakura was still waiting for an answer and he looked away from her to stare at the opposite wall.

"No it isn't" Sakura said "it has to be important if you're worrying about it" Sasuke managed to give her a look that was halfway between a smile and frown but didn't say anymore.

Sakura sighed and swung her legs out of the bed so she could kick her discarded clothes into a rough pile, she glanced sideways at Sasuke who was still looking away but he noticed her glance and said;

"I can close my eyes if you want me to" Sakura flushed slightly.

"No, you don't have to" She muttered feeling foolish now Sasuke had caught her hesitancy, she reached down and pulled on the t-shirt she had been wearing the night before feeling glad that it was fairly long. Sakura stood and turned to face Sasuke, feeling awkward again.

"Do you want to shower or I could make breakfast or something" Sakura said and Sasuke glanced up at her.

"Breakfast sounds good" He said as he began pulling his clothes on "If you want I can make you a cup of tea while you get dressed properly" Sakura smiled slightly.

"Sure" She said, tugging the bottom of her top down firmly and Sasuke looked amused by the action. He walked up to her and half smiled as she shifted under his gaze he didn't say anything and just kissed her lightly on the forehead before walking out to the kitchen. Sakura smiled slightly as she watched him leave before turning to her wardrobe to find something suitable to wear.

Sasuke was watching the steam rise from the kettle by the time Sakura joined him in the kitchen, her hair was slightly damp at the ends after an brief shower.

"Hey" She said softly "are you alright?" Sasuke started and glanced at her. He nodded slightly and poured the freshly boiled water into the mugs watching the water turn brown as it hit the teabag. Sakura smiled at him when he wordlessly handed her the mug and muttered her thanks. She grasped the mug feeling in warm her hands as she studied Sasuke's blank expression unsure what to expect, despite Sasuke's earlier reassurances she was still worried what the effects of last night would do to their relationship. Jumping into bed with Sasuke was the last thing she had on her mind when she invited him over last night, well, not the last thing but it certainly wasn't at the top of her list.

Sakura set down her drink and opened some of cupboards

"What do you want for breakfast?" She asked and Sasuke shrugged slightly.

"Whatever you want" He said and Sakura frowned at him when he had turned his attention back to the cup of tea in his hands.

"Okay" Sakura said, drawing out the word, as she set out some bowls and cereal for them to eat. Sasuke joined her at the table and after prodding the contents of his bowl with a spoon for a while he looked up at her thoughtfully.

"Sakura" He said suddenly "Do you really think people can't change themselves that much"

"Huh?" Sakura started "Yeah, I mean even if you were to change a bit you'd still be Sasuke deep down" She studied at Sasuke's thoughtful expression "You know if something's bothering you, you can always tell me right?" She said and Sasuke gave her a short nod in reply as he considered her words.

If people couldn't change what would that mean for him? That he'd forever remain in the image of Sakura's perfect man? That he'd never have anything for himself? All the things he'd discovered he liked such as walking round places, although he had started doing that to test how far he could get away from Sakura he had come to genuinely enjoy wandering round different places. Even if he supposed that he would soon run out of places to visit that he hadn't been to before, unless her took Sakura with him. He had tried cakes and biscuits and found he didn't like them and now he wasn't sure if Sakura had made him that way or if it was all his own opinion.

Sakura glanced up at Sasuke as she set the table and noticed that he still seemed slightly troubled by what she had said earlier.

"I don't know if this helps" She said as she carefully set down a plate "I don't know who or what you're worrying about but I think that sometimes it can take a while for people to find out who they really are"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked and Sakura shrugged.

"Just that it can take a lot before people can accept and be comfortable with themselves and I think that sometimes you can even hide things from yourself if your embarrassed or if it's different from what people expect from you" She took in Sasuke's expression of slight surprise "not you specifically of course but I don't know, it's just that I know it took me a long time to be comfortable with who I really was and before that I hid a lot of the parts I was ashamed of or unsure of. People come into their own in time" Sasuke gave her a slight smile before joining her at the table.

"Thanks" He muttered grudgingly.

"Did any of it help?" Sakura asked as she studied Sasuke over her mug of tea.

"Sort of"

"Yeah, I guess so" Sasuke sighed. No he knew he couldn't but he really wanted to. Sasuke picked up a slice of toast and bit into it thoughtfully he saw Sakura give him a strange look. "What?"

"Do you not want anything on that?" She asked and Sasuke looked down at the plain slice of toast in his hand.

"Not really, I like it this way" He said "Why, what do people usually have on it?" It was only when Sakura stared at him as if he had just gotten off a space ship did he realise what he had said.

"Jam? Marmalade? Peanut butter?" Sakura said slowly "I know that sometime Ino likes chocolate spread on hers and Hinata likes Marmite" Sasuke looked down at the toast again.

"Chocolate?" He asked and Sakura shrugged

"I know I find it a little too sweet in the mornings but it would explain why she can seem like she's on a permanent sugar high" Sakura watched Sasuke some more as he seemed to consider his toast he blinked and glanced back up at Sakura.

"Did you want to do anything today?" He asked and Sakura looked thoughtful.

"We could always go out somewhere, maybe, if you want to" She said hesitantly "for a meal or something or just go for a walk somewhere"

"A walk sounds good" Sasuke muttered "and we can always stop for lunch if we're out for a long time"

"Great" Sakura said brightly and Sasuke almost smiled at her enthusiasm.

"I should get dressed" Sakura said suddenly and Sasuke watched her gather the plates and mugs from the table, leaving Sasuke with just his toast, she set them by the side of the sink and Sasuke caught her wrist as she hurried past him again pulling her down slightly as he shifted forward in his chair he managed to give her a quick kiss on the lips.

"I'll do the washing up" He said as he pulled back and Sakura smiled at him, relieved that nothing seemed to have changed between the two of them.

"Thanks" She said and as she turned and walked into her bedroom Sasuke pushed his breakfast away and put his head in his hands. He thought of the many kisses and gentle touches he had shared with Sakura the night before and he knew that now he was definitely in love with Sakura. Although he had come to that realisation with a mixed feeling of joy and a slow building up of dread as if he was heading towards a hangman's noose, as much as he cared for, or loved, he didn't know how much of it was him and how much of these feelings were predetermined.

Sakura was amazing. From the way she cared so much about her job, when her whole face became animated when she talked about something she was really excited about, the way she had a single dimple on one cheek that was only visible when she really laughed or smiled. She was neither stunningly attractive or one of those hidden beauty's they showed on the bad romance films Sakura seemed to like so much. She was just some one of fairly average looks and more than average intelligence. But for now Sasuke found that was enough although he didn't know how long it would last he was content for now and the pressure he was feeling in the back of his skull had lessened even if he still felt like he had a headache and his mind was slightly fuzzy as thoughts of Sakura's cheerful expression almost weighed him down.

She was so easily pleased by it all, the stranger who had magically walked into her life and had become as close to her in a matter of months as all her other friends were. There was still a sense of bitterness deep inside Sasuke but most of it had been washed away last night, he would probably never be able to hate Sakura but he still felt annoyed, angry even, that he had to deal with the burden of being not entirely human, being different from the rest of them, without the luxury of distant memories or long friendships that went back several years, and amongst all this Sakura was happily oblivious to it all. But as Sakura had drifted off to sleep beside him, her head settled on his outstretched arm, he didn't think he'd be able to willingly hurt her and tell her what he was hiding.

Still, Sasuke jerked himself out of his thoughts and got up and gathered the dishes and began washing up and he had just placed the last plate on the draining board when Sakura came up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Hey" She said and Sasuke turned and gave her a small smile.

"Hi, are you all set to go?" He asked and Sakura nodded "okay, just give me a minute then we can go"

"I'll go put my shoes on" Sakura said but neither of them moved and Sakura slid her hands down Sasuke's back and put her arms around him and all Sasuke negative thoughts disappeared as she leant her head against his back and she let out a contented sigh. He raised his hands to rest against hers and they stood together for a moment content with just each other's company as Sakura's presence soothed Sasuke's troubled thoughts.

"Okay" Sasuke said patting Sakura's hand quickly. "We should, uh, I need to-"

"Yeah" Sakura said as he began to trail off "I'll let you get ready to go out and get my stuff".

Sakura remained in the kitchen as she watched Sasuke walk off, running a hand through his hair in an agitated manner, moments later she heard some running water from the bathroom and smiled slightly. She didn't know what was bothering him this morning but he seemed to be alright now, although she wanted to know why he seemed to out of sorts Sasuke didn't seem to like being pressed about anything, he always became very close lipped whenever a conversation moved on to family or old friends and stupid childhood stories almost as if there was something in his past he didn't want to dwell on. But still, considering the state of her last relationship Sakura wasn't bothered by Sasuke being secretive about his life before her, they technically hadn't known each other for that long even if it felt like she had known Sasuke for years.

She gathered her bag and coat and sat in the living room to pull her shoes on as she waited for Sasuke.

"Okay, I'm ready" Sasuke said stumbling through the door slightly as he yanked on his shoe and tried to walk at the same time, his hair looked slightly damp and Sakura smiled.

"You're keen to leave" She said and Sasuke shrugged.

"It'll be nice to go out for a bit, you know, to go and do something" He said and Sakura frowned.

"You make it sound like you don't want to stay in here with me all day" She said and Sasuke stared at her, he seemed at a loss for what to say. "I was kidding, Sasuke" She said flatly.

"Oh, sorry" He said and Sakura gave him a strange look.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes" Sasuke said firmly, maybe a little too firmly "Yes I'm fine."

They walked to the front door and Sakura watched Sasuke's back as he headed out in front of her. She smiled to herself at the thought of having Sasuke to herself all day which was something she was looking forward too as they had only ever spent their afternoons together or they met up in the evening instead so the prospect of a whole day was strangely exciting.

Sakura paused as she watched Sasuke walking away from her to open her front door was suddenly, and rather irrationally she thought, filled with a brief moment of panic combined with a heavy sinking feeling in her stomach as if it was all going to go horribly wrong and she felt all alone but then Sasuke turned and gave her a strange look.

"Are you coming or what?" He asked and the dark feeling in the pit of her stomach lurched slightly before it faded away and Sakura blinked and smiled at Sasuke shaking off her alarm.

"Yeah sure" She said and Sasuke moved aside so she could lock the door, the fact that he was still standing on the porch step, and still so close to her managed to reassure her that the panic she felt in the hallway, as if he was walking out of the door and away from her for good, was just a stupid moment of weakness. She shyly smiled up at him again and admired his broad shoulders that weren't usually as noticeable under the layers of clothing Sasuke had been wearing through the colder months. And then she shook her head slightly as she came to the horrible realisation that she was now as bad as Ino was at ogling men, or as Ino putting appreciating the finer pints of the male anatomy.

Sakura glanced sideways and after steeling herself for any potential bad reaction from Sasuke she reached out and grabbed his hand. Sasuke started slightly and then gave her a half smile and he squeezed her hand slightly.

"Where do you want to go?" Sakura asked and Sasuke shrugged.

"Anywhere" He said.

"Okay" Sakura said turning left at the end of the road "let's see where we end up then, but if we get hopelessly lost then I'm blaming you for it." This time Sasuke actually grinned at her and Sakura felt her face heat up.

"Fair enough" He said.

They wandered round the streets in silence as Sasuke seemed content to be lost in his own thoughts and Sakura didn't mind as he still was walking with her swinging his arm with their hands still entwined together and she knew that Sasuke would never be as loud as her other friends anyway who could get endless mileage out of one topic of conversation. She'd once had a conversation with Ino that almost lasted an hour that was about what they kept in their kitchen cupboards and the merits of tinned food, it was also the time they both realised with some horror that their days of eating student food were behind them and that they had actually become quite domesticated.

Still with all the silence Sakura couldn't help turning over last night's events in her mind. Sasuke had been sweet in his own way, by which he didn't whisper tender words in her ear, he just wasn't the type, but he had been attentive and had kissed her softly on her lips and across her neck and shoulders before things turned more well heated between them and Sakura felt herself blushing slightly as her thoughts turned to the more passionate parts of the night.

"Sakura" Sasuke said suddenly and Sakura pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Do you want to go to the park?" She blinked at him in confusion at the sudden question before she realised that they had ended up at the Memorial Park, the same place they had eaten a picnic together in the first few weeks of meeting each other. Sakura smiled at the memory and squeezed his hand.

"The park sounds great"


	11. Chapter 11

Sakura looked up at the sky as she walked through the park with Sasuke, side by side, hand in hand, Sasuke had seemed slightly amused by her looking upwards so much and threatened to steer her towards a lamp post if she wasn't careful but she trusted him, for the most part, but it still didn't hurt to glance down every so often just to make sure Sasuke wasn't suddenly going to reveal a mean streak. Sakura looked down at their entwined hands and smiled to herself, today was going great.

It was still slightly cold but the sun was casting a pale glow on the trees and the sky was still slightly overcast and had yet to become the bright blue of the summer. But despite the slightly overcast day Sakura was happy, happier than she's been in weeks, as she returned to the park with Sasuke as an almost-sort-of couple. Especially as the weather had improved, if only slightly. It was almost a year ago that she was still nursing a broken heart but now her relationship with Tanzo seemed to be in the distant past, almost as if it had happened to another person all together. She would never have guessed that she would find someone like Sasuke who was so close to perfect for her it was almost unreal. Sakura grinned as she looked around the park.

"I can't believe you made me go on a picnic here in when it was the middle of winter" She said and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You're exaggerating, it wasn't that cold anyway" He said. And then with a grin nudged Sakura towards a post with his shoulder making her stumble slightly as she had to bring herself to a sudden halt so she didn't run into it. She stuck her tongue out at Sasuke who carried on walking, tugging at her hand to make her move again.

"It was cold enough for me to wear my Eskimo coat though" Sakura muttered. Sasuke glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw that she was glaring at him in protest.

"I never thought you'd complain so much about the cold" He said and Sakura turned her head away from him, pretending to be annoyed. Sasuke, however, ignored her fake sulking. He didn't even seem fazed by it, Sakura thought, feeling slightly disappointed, she had rather hoped to see him panic.

"Shut up" She retorted "besides as everyone so cleverly points out to me my name means spring so apparently it has to be my favourite month" She added sarcastically.

"Doesn't it always rain in spring" Sasuke said slowly. He had never seen Spring, all he knew about it was from things he'd read to try and understand the world some more, he was strangely ignorant about some things and knew a lot about others and he supposed that whatever weird powers created him from Sakura's thoughts they hadn't deemed it necessary for him to have much of a concept of things like seasons or the weather. He had never seen snow and had only seen pictures and read the bare facts about ice falling from the sky in flakes and spring was the same. And it was very hard to understand something he had just read as bare facts, he glanced at Sakura who seemed to have forgotten that she was pretending to be mad at him as she had her face turned up to look at the sky.

"Yes, at the beginning of spring anyway. And it's only sometimes, if I'm very lucky, that it doesn't rain on my birthday. I like autumn better anyway" She said absentmindedly. Sasuke smiled slightly, at least he recognised that month, experienced it even, he had seen the leaves turn shades of orange and red before fading to brown and dropping off the trees. He had felt the weather get colder after the warmer months he had appeared in.

It was funny how quickly time had passed between this and being with Sakura now he had seen the long hot days of summer, the browns and oranges of the autumn and had enjoyed seeing the frosted patterns on windows and cars in the winter mornings. Spring was the only time he hadn't seen. He wondered if he was missing much.

"Ah, look the cafe's open" Sakura said suddenly tugging on his hand. "Do you want to go in?" Sasuke glanced up at the building and realised that it had gotten quite late in the day and that a long time had passed since they last ate. Sakura felt the tug on her arm loosen as Sasuke stepped towards her, close enough to loom over her.

"Sure" He said "Let's eat." And as Sakura made to step forward away from him Sasuke pulled her back towards him so he could give her a quick kiss. Sakura froze completely stunned as he lingered near her, an almost smile on his face. "Let's go" He said softly, pressing his lips briefly against hers again and Sakura felt herself going red in the face as her stomach gave a pleasurable squirm. Sasuke pulled away and Sakura stumbled slightly as he kept hold of her hand as he began to walk away.

"Come on" He said "What are you waiting for?" Sakura quickly followed him unsure how to react, whether to glare or hit him for being the reason she was so distracted in the first place or just let it slide. And considering she was already following him with a goofy smile of her face after he had kissed her it seemed she was happy to let it go as she followed Sasuke into the cafe. He led her to a table and pulled her chair out for her so she could sit down. Sakura smiled up at him as the day so far had proved that all her sudden fears about their relationship changing after they had spent the night together were completely wrong.

They both fell silent as the browsed the menu and a waitress came over to take both of their orders. Sakura stared out the window as the same waitress returned and set the tea set in front of them. Sasuke fiddled with the jug of milk as he thought about Sakura, a rather common train of thought for him, or more specifically his relations with Sakura and her part in inadvertently creating him.

Although he was fond of Sakura, or rather more than just fond of her, she meant a lot to him but he still felt trapped by the circumstances he had been brought to life in. The more he saw of people and of life the more he came to find he had missed out on, all those years of memories and forging lifelong friendships that Sakura was caught up with in Ino and Naruto. And he wondered if the convenient placement of his job with another one of her friends Shikamaru was just a coincidence or another part of whatever power had created him from Sakura's wishful thinking that had integrated him into her life as much as possible.

Sasuke glanced up at Sakura who was still sitting with her head resting in her hands, staring dreamily out the window, and he enjoyed the silence. As much as Sakura was able to spend hours talking nonsense non-stop with her friends Sasuke was glad she could appreciate the value of staying quiet as well, it wasn't something he thought her capable of once he had seen her yammering away with Naruto but he had spent many quiet night with Sakura as she was lost in reflective silence.

The only problem being that at times she was too quiet and that began to worry him until he was curious enough to try and find out what was bothering her by subtly accessing the bond that held the two of them together, it was often little things like trouble at work, a frustrating patient or what to get one of their friends for her birthday -something Sakura seemed to take quite seriously, finding someone the perfect present-but on occasion he had found himself in her thoughts as she wondered what he thought of her or if he liked spending time with her.

She managed to annoy him either way either by being too loud and irritating him that way or from being abnormally quiet, or so it seemed to Sasuke and managing to unnerve him. Sakura was definitely a very complicated person she could go from being very sweet to angry and short tempered in a matter of seconds. And she loved her friends enough to happily insult them to her faces but would destroy anyone who said a bad word against them. She was strange, bright and Sasuke wanted to be with her as much as he wanted to get away from her and couldn't reconcile either part against the other.

"It's funny how you always get a cup and saucer when you drink tea out but no one ever uses them at home" Sakura said thoughtfully. Sasuke shrugged slightly, although he was annoyed that he hadn't noticed her turn her attention away from the window.

"Does it matter?" He said.

"Not really" Sakura said "It's just strange, like a misplaced sense of formality in a cafe like this." Sasuke didn't reply, instead he watched Sakura set out the cups and saucers with ease pouring out milk and tea as if, despite her complaints, she was used to drinking tea that way. It was funny, Sasuke didn't think he'd even seen a tea pot before let alone used one, still he copied Sakura's actions and hoped he didn't look too put out by the sudden arrival of tea pots, milk jugs and sugar holders.

The waitress returned and set their meals out in front of them and Sakura thanked her as Sasuke continued to stared fixedly at the milk jug, seemingly lost in his own thoughts and she picked up a fork to pick at her meal.

"Sasuke?" She said after a while and he blinked and looked at her "Are you alright?"

"Yeah" He said looking down at his meal with a hint of surprise, as if he hadn't noticed it was there "Yeah, I think so, sorry I was just thinking" They ate silently and Sakura looked out the window watching people go past the cafe, listening to the murmur of voices behind them from the other tables of couples and families, some talking softly among themselves and some talking in sharp, raised voices. She turned her attention to a woman with long dark hair who was scolding a toddler who seemed to have only just learnt to walk as she kept scampering off everywhere. She currently was holding onto her hand as she tried to pull away from her while her partner was watching her with an amused expression as he played with a cigarette in one hand. The women glanced up and caught Sakura's eyes and Sakura smiled at her and the women returned it with an exasperated one of her own.

Sasuke glanced back at the family that Sakura was smiling vaguely at and he briefly wondered if they had reminded her of someone of if it was that she wanted a family of her own sometime. He could imagine Sakura as a mother easily, surrounded by a warm loving family but drew a blank when he thought about her husband. He couldn't even imagine himself in that position sometime in the distant future as much as he had come to care for her. He shook his head slightly to get rid of the depressing thoughts and instead focused on Sakura's sunny expression and felt a strange lift in his spirits. He supposed he was reacting to the bond between them.

"Do you want to leave?" Sasuke asked and Sakura looked momentarily startled that he was talking to her again before she gave him a warm smile.

"Sure" She said draining the rest of her tea cup before standing up "Shall we?" She asked and Sasuke smiled and grabbed her hand, and they paid, or rather Sasuke did after a brief argument with Sakura insisting she could pay for her own lunch thank you very much and Sasuke ignoring her and paying the waitress at the till anyway. Telling Sakura that he wanted to do this for her which turned her bright red with embarrassment as the waitress gave them, a rather all too knowing, smile.

They completed their circuit of the park, still hand in hand, passing the family from the restaurant who were supervising their daughter on the swings, pushing her higher and higher as she shrieked and laughed with excitement.

As they made their way slowly back into town Sasuke found himself begin to automatically take the route back to his house and he paused to glance at Sakura.

"What?" She asked frowning at him in confusion.

"Do you want to go home and call it a day or we could go to my house or do something else, or, I don't know" Sasuke trailed off as Sakura continued watching him thoughtfully, her head titled to one side.

"Can we go to your house" She said after a moments silence "I'd like to see what it's like now you've finished all your manic decorating. And besides I don't think I want to go home yet" Sasuke smiled awkwardly and shoved his hands in his pockets as he turned to lead Sakura to his house. His almost-home. It still didn't contain the same memory filled objects that Sakura cheerfully described as clutter in her house but he had gathered a few bits here and there so it no longer looked like a show-room. At least that was what Shikamaru had called it when he had come round briefly after work and Sasuke had found himself lying, saying that he had just moved in- at least that was more or less true- but that he had lots of other things in storage.

Sakura took a few quick steps to catch up with him and carefully slide her arm though his so she could walk close to him. Sasuke glance down at Sakura and felt himself relax slightly at having her so close to him. It was strange, the effect she had on him, creating and almost giddy rush he felt whenever she was that close. He pulled out of her grasp slightly so he could hold her hand instead and lead the way to his house.

And then, for the second time since they had met Sakura found herself standing outside Sasuke's house. Although, of course, this time was different as Sasuke was standing next to her with her hand in one of his as he tried to unlock the door with the other.

The house still smelt faintly of paint and Sakura looked around at the freshly painted rooms. The walls were still fairly bare but she assumed that he was still sorting out his belongings, she knew that she'd need months to go through all of her stuff especially as she rarely threw things out.

"Wow, this looks amazing" Sakura said darting between the downstairs rooms and Sasuke just stood with his armed folded in the living room watching her dart in and out of the various doorways. "It makes me house seem really shabby" She said finally returning to flop onto the sofa "maybe I should repaint my house" she muttered.

"There's nothing wrong with where you live Sakura" Sasuke said taking a seat next to her.

"Hmm" Sakura hummed softly to herself as she scrutinised the room, "are you happy with what you've done with it?" She asked and Sasuke looked around the room as well.

"I think so" He said "it's better than beige anyway." Sakura grinned.

"It's nice" She said softly and then her attention was caught by a poster that was framed and hung on the wall behind them. "I remember that movie" She said, her face lighting up as she recognised the film poster. "I used to watch it when I was younger round Ino's I think she had the video of it" She turned round so she could kneel on the sofa resting her hands on the back of the chair as she peered at the image of the wall.

Sasuke glanced up at the poster, it was from an old film one of his work colleges had mentioned and he had watched it out of curiosity with some other older films that were apparently "must-see" movies which had scandalised most of his co-workers when Sasuke had said he's never seen them. Except Shikamaru who just sat and observed him calmly and it crossed Sasuke's mind once again that Shikamaru seemed to know more that he let on. But Sasuke had found that he liked one of the films and had bought the poster when he found it cheap to try and gain some sense of personal history, like Sakura with all her belongings that were linked with some memory of her friends of family he wanted to have something like that for himself. It helped, in a way, that it was a fairly old, battered poster, so at least it wasn't like everything else he owned, brand new, you could almost pretend that he had bought it when he was younger when in reality the poster has existed longer than he had.

Sakura was still leaning on the back of the sofa grinning at the poster and, on impulse, Sasuke reached up and putting his arm round Sakura's waist pulled her back down onto the sofa and almost into his lap. Sakura grinned up at him sheepishly and Sasuke's expression softened slightly when he looked down at her. He didn't smile exactly but he gave her a warm look before leaning down to kiss her gently on the lips. Sakura shifted in his arms so she could bring a hand up to his face and she trailed her fingers across his cheek before she moved running her hand through his hair. She pulled away from him slowly so she could look at Sasuke but he had his arms firmly wrapped around her waist and easily pulled her closer to him again and Sakura smiled as he kept her close enough for their noses to brush together when either of them moved.

"Sasuke" Sakura said quietly looking into his eyes and Sasuke made a noise to show that he was listening "I had fun today, so thanks for taking me out"

"It's fine" Sasuke muttered and he moved forward to close the gap between them and kissed her again, he moved his hands down to where the edge of her top had lifted up as she had raised her arms to put them round Sasuke's shoulders. He smoothed his hand across her stomach and Sakura smiled into his mouth. Sasuke moved away from her briefly to start pressing kisses down the side of her neck which, along with the hand that had moved up her side, made Sakura giggle at the tickling sensations.

"I was a little scared this morning" Sakura said softly as she played with the ends of his hair and Sasuke made a noise for her to continue "just because I didn't know if last night changed anything, or made things awkward between us" She pulled back and moved her hand from his hair to run it down the side of his face "I'm glad it hasn't" Sasuke gave her a half smile before pressing a soft kiss on the side of her mouth and drawing her closer into a hug.

"I know" He said, thinking of all the unusual feelings he had swirling around inside him today, happiness at being close to Sakura and the warmth he felt from being with her, especially when they were physically close, he even had some small pleasure from holding her hand, and yet there was a need to distance himself from her and a strange feeling that something was breaking, something was coming to an end but still the last thing he wanted to do was hurt Sakura so; "Nothing's changed" He lied.


	12. Chapter 12

"Sakura!" Ino said standing up and pulling Sakura into a hug as soon as she walked up to the table they were sharing "I'm so glad we get to take you away from Sasuke and monopolise you for the evening"

"Ino we've spoken practically every day" Sakura said.

"But it's not the same as actually seeing you" Ino said squishing Sakura's cheeks together, in a gesture she saw as affection and Sakura saw as painful and slightly embarrassing. She jerked away from Ino's grasp and turned to greet Tenten and Hinata only to have Ino practically manhandle her into her seat moments later.

"Someone's excited" Sakura muttered and Tenten rolled her eyes.

"No kidding" She said "She's been bouncing up and down in her seat for the last five minutes waiting for you"

"I'm just so happy to see you all" Ino said with a giggle and Tenten looked at her sceptically.

"Somehow I don't believe that" Tenten said to Hinata in an overly loud whisper.

"Especially as she was complaining about Sakura being late when she's actually arrived just on time" Hinata added sweetly.

"Something about her being distracted by or abandoning us because of Sasuke wasn't it" Tenten continued as Ino glowered at the two of them.

"Okay, maybe I have some amazing news as well" Ino said "but it still fells too long since we were all together like this" Sakura blinked.

"Is that it?" She said "I was half expecting you to add another jibe about it being all my fault because I spend all my time with Sasuke, especially as you've apparently been complaining about that already"

"You do, and they're lying" Ino said and Tenten looked outraged "But I feel replaced as you used to spend all your time with me, so after much deliberation and I held some auditions too, I found someone to replace you"

"Oh really, who?" Sakura demanded.

"Shikamaru" Ino said and the other three laughed. "Hey, I'm being serious" She said looking offended, "he asked me out a few weeks ago"

"I don't believe you" Tenten said.

"If it was true you would have rung us all a few seconds after it actually happened" Sakura said and Ino glared at them.

"That's not fair I can keep things to myself when I want to"

"Yeah right" Sakura said.

"I can, like I've never actually told anyone about that time you met some guy and then ran away-"

"Alright!" Sakura almost shouted over Ino "I get the idea you kept it quiet"

"Sounds like there was an interesting story there" Tenten said and Sakura flushed.

"It's nothing" She insisted and Tenten raised her eyebrows,

"Right, nothing" She said,

"So did you go out with Shikamaru then?" Hinata asked much to Sakura's relief. Ino beamed at her.

"Yep" She said "And then we had a few dates after that"

"So in fact you and Shikamaru are practically joined at the hip" Sakura said "Something you accuse me of being with Sasuke." Ino smiled sweetly and glanced down on either side of her.

"No I don't think we are as he's not here" She said innocently.

"You're hilarious" Sakura said dryly.

"Why thank you, I thought it was rather good" Ino said, managing a straight face for a while before she burst out laughing.

"Hey" Tenten said "I want to know what happened with Shikamaru, after all the fuss you made about not wanting to spoil your friendship it better have gone well"

"Yeah, I mean it was nice" Ino said flushing slightly.

"Nice" Tenten repeated "Come on Ino, you know we want more details than that"

"Okay it was good" Ino said with a grin.

"She's doing it on purpose now" Tenten muttered and Hinata giggled.

"It was good" Ino protested, "Shikamaru was strangely sweet, he took me to a restaurant and ordered my favourite wine and the restaurant he took me to did a really nice toffee pudding, and you know how I feel about pudding" Ino sighed "As he already knew everything about me he did all the things he knows I'd usually like on a date"

"Or demand" Tenten muttered and Ino glared at her.

"Anyway" Ino continued huffily "I didn't feel like I had to impress him or anything as he already kind of like me the way I am so I didn't have to pretend I'd read any stuffy books or had an interest in mountaineering or anything to make the guy interested in me"

"Because we all know that the dates you've done that on have been so successful" Sakura said and Ino stuck her tongue out at her.

"You said you'd been on a few dates didn't you?" Hinata asked and Ino grinned at her "How did the others go?"

"They were great" She said, her grinned widening. "I mean after I probably spent the first date boring him about how I was really scared and concerned that this would ruin our friendship and that as we know the same people it would get really awkward when we broke up, he just said 'who says we're ever going to break up' which I took to mean in Shikamaru-language that he really likes me and on the second date I tried to be less neurotic and it went really well, he can be surprisingly sweet when he wants to be which is kind of strange as well I would never have expected that from him but yeah..." Ino trailed off and looked away feeling embarrassed.

"Aww, you really like him" Sasuke said "Ino that's cute"

"Shut up" Ino muttered and Tenten smiled at her.

"So you admit that I'm not completely crazy to have thrown in years of friendship to start dating Neji" She said and Ino grinned.

"That's totally different" She said "because its Neji, I mean Shikamaru can be pretty lazy but he can get all fired up over things when they're important and Neji's like a rock I can't imagine that man having a moment of passion in his life ever"

"Actually he's a very good kisser" Tenten said.

"You've been together for a few months, is kissing all you've done?" Ino said archly.

"Not all of us are so eager to jump into bed with a man" Tenten said sweetly "but since you asked I think I should tell you that you're partially right as Neji is like a rock down-"

"Do you two have to say this!" Hinata butted in, looking horrified "He's my cousin, please I don't want to hear that kind of thing"

"Sorry" They both muttered looking down and giving, what Sakura thought, was a decent impression of being contrite. Sakura cleared her throat slightly.

"So I take it things are going well with Neji then" She said and Tenten smiled.

"It's wonderful" She said simply and Ino pulled a face at her and then winced as Tenten elbowed her in the side.

"And what about Hinata?" Ino said grinning and leaning across the table towards her.

"Hinata has no love life to speak of unlike you lot" She said.

"Hinata's also speaking in third person" Tenten said.

"And Hinata's very aware of that" Hinata said with a grin.

"What about Naruto, how are things going with him" Ino said suddenly and Hinata looked startled.

"There are no things to speak of" She said, trying to sound casual about it despite the fact that her face had gone bright red by now.

"I swear he's been eyeing you up for like a year at least" Ino said.

"And yet he still hasn't done anything" Tenten said "At this rate your entire relationship with him is going to be stolen glances and longing looks across the room." She sighed slightly "I hate to tell you this Hinata but I think this one's down to you, if you don't say something then you'll never get together because I don't think Naruto's ever going to take any initiative"

"Really?" Hinata asked and Ino snorted.

"Yeah, he's too scared of Neji to even attempt anything" She muttered and Sakura grinned.

"Well that's true he flinches every time Neji looks at him the wrong way" Sakura said.

"Seriously though" Ino added "you can actually blame the lack of romance in your life on your cousin, whenever Naruto talks to you even as just a friendly chat have you not noticed that Neji just appears to make sure he doesn't try anything 'inappropriate' it's almost like he can see everything even if he has his back to you and Naruto he just knows that there may be a potential for flirting there so he has to step in and stop it"

"It's not like that" Hinata said "Neji's just looking out for me I guess".

"No he is really over protective" Tenten said "It's almost as if Neji's living in the Eighteenth century and that Naruto's going to endanger your chastity just by talking to you" Hinata flushed "it's ridiculous going out in a group as every time I try and get all romantic with him he has to go excuse himself and stand menacingly behind you, glaring at Naruto to make sure he doesn't even consider asking you out, why do you think that every time Naruto offers you a lift home Neji's there in an instant to offer to drive you himself?" Hinata looked thoughtful.

"I just thought it was because it was on the way for him as we live close by and its almost the other side of town for Naruto it makes sense to go back with Neji" She said and they all groaned.

"Oh Hinata, you can't be that naive" Ino said.

"Naruto would drive you to the other end of the country if he got to spend more time with you" Sakura said and they all paused to grin knowingly at Hinata who was, by now, almost a luminous red.

"What's Naruto been up to these days anyway?" Sakura asked suddenly "I haven't seen him for ages"

"I think he's been trying to get into Sasuke's good books" Ino said. "You know making friends with your friend's boyfriend and all that"

"I'm not sure how well that's going to go down with Sasuke" Sakura muttered and Ino raised her eyebrows.

"Is everything okay?" She asked and Sakura shrugged.

"I just don't think Sasuke has the right temperament to deal with Naruto" She said. "They seem to clash a lot the last few times they've met."

"No kidding" Tenten said "They've almost come to blows over something as stupid as buying rounds of drinks"

"So why does Naruto feel the need to suddenly be good friends with Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"Its more than good friends" Ino said "According to Shikamaru he's practically stalking him"

"I'm sure Naruto's doing it with the best intentions" Hinata said.

"Can you stalk people with good intentions" Tenten wondered out loud as Ino said at the same time:

"Of course you'd see the good in whatever Naruto does" Hinata flushed and then Ino turned to Tenten "If you were stalking someone so they didn't fall prey to a serial killer then maybe that's stalking with good intentions"

Sakura smiled to herself as she stirred her drink with her straw as she half listened to her friends discuss the dangers and potential merits of stalking, she wondered what Sasuke would be up to tonight, despite everything she sometimes still felt that she knew very little about him like whether he would happily spend an evening after work collapsed in front of the television or reading like she did, or if he was more like Naruto who ran to calm down and burn off the limitless energy the boy seemed to have. Sasuke seemed like a quieter, shy sort of person which was strange as he had so easily spoken to her on the street when they had first met, or rather collided. Now he was more sedate and it seemed like he had a lot on his mind.

Sakura sighed and as Tenten argued that no, stalking could never be a valid profession, and Hinata seemed bewildered how her innocent comment had gotten so out of hand, Sakura tried to picture what Sasuke was doing, she imagined him at home, maybe reading? No that wasn't right.

She sighed and considered her friends she could guess what they would do easily Hinata spent most of her free time baking and if they ever visited her they were plied with cakes or she always brought some to their houses if she visited. Ino collected magazines and factual books like crazy, she was fascinated by people whether they were popular icons or historical figures and she once spent an entire summer reading up about police cases on various serial killers to see how they worked, she then spent the rest of the time away from her reading convinced that there were serial killers in the making everywhere from the man who worked in the ice-cream van to more than half the other people in the shopping centre.

Tenten was much more active and was the only person that kept up her gym membership as the others had joined only half-heartedly in a fit on new year's guilt and the resolution to get in shape, they still joined her occasionally but Tenten was the only person that went regularly and to some of the scheduled classes as well and as Ino said you always felt incredibly bad working out next to Tenten as she was always doing infinitely better than you. So Tenten was more likely to be outside doing something instead of occupying herself at home.

Sasuke was still a mystery. He seemed perfectly content to sit at home with her but she wondered what he'd prefer to do given the choice. He had never said, and she had never actually asked.

In fact Sasuke was quite happily sitting at home surrounded by sheets of paper. He was sitting on the sofa with his feet drawn up to rest on the edge of the seat as he leant another piece of paper on his knees as he wrote on it. Once the paper was completely covered Sasuke put in aside of one of the remaining spaces around him and leant back with a sigh and stretched. He had been trying to write down everything he remembered and the more he worked on it the more he found to put down as he covered the paper with pieces of his life. Some things he had picked up along the way, like preferred food, but other pieces of information he had no idea how he knew these things, he rubbed a hand across his eyes feeling tired and confused as he didn't even know what was happening anymore.

It had been so easy at first to compartmentalise his life, there was the Sakura part of his life and his job and then all the parts of his life that he had made himself, the trips and walks and discovering the limits of how far he could go, what he liked and trying to watch and read old stories in films or books and even news archives to try and figure out something of the years he never had growing up. But recently the lines between these parts of his life had begun to blur and now he didn't know what was what anymore. There were things he knew that seemed to be from some half remembered dream and sometimes he couldn't even tell what was real or artificial anymore.

There was sudden loud knock on the door and Sasuke groaned, wondering who would be at his door at this time but he got up, crumpling up some of the paper as he moved. Then the doorbell rang and Sasuke cursed the idiot that just discovered the bell, as if he hadn't already heard them knock. He trudged down the hallway and opened the door, only to close it again instantly. Or at least he tried to as the person on the other side hurled themselves at the door to try and keep it open. Sasuke tried to shove it closed.

"Hey" Naruto complained "What kind of welcome was that"

"You're not welcome here that's why" Sasuke said, moving to lean his entire weight on the door to keep the other man out "And how the hell do you know where I live anyway".

"Aha" Naruto said triumphantly "If you let me in I'll tell you"

"I'm not that curious, idiot" Sasuke muttered shoving the door once again, but unfortunately Naruto had managed to wedge his shoulder in the gap and was somehow trying to force the rest of his body through the small space. Sasuke kept pushing on the door but watched with a sense of almost amazement at the other mans persistence and his eventual success when Naruto managed to get his head and the rest of his upper body though the doorway. At that point Sasuke gave up and with some pleasure he let go of the door completely and watched Naruto stumble through and land on his face.

Naruto got up off the floor and dusted himself down and looked around, pretending that he hadn't actually just fallen through the door. Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair, so much for a peaceful night, but after all that...

"You might as well come all the way in now" Sasuke said dryly walking into the living room where he had been settled and he started gathering up the papers, in any order, before Naruto could see them and start questioning Sasuke about them.

"Hey, what with all the writing" Naruto said and Sasuke felt like sighing again, too late. He turned and saw that Naruto was squinting at one of the sheets of paper, but as he was holding it so close to his face Sasuke doubted he could read anything clearly.

"That's none of your business" Sasuke said and whipped it out of Naruto's hands.

"Hmph" Naruto said folding his arms and as he was sitting on the floor as well it gave the overall impression of an overgrown child.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke demanded shoving the sheets of paper away into a folder.

"To see you" Naruto said cheerily and Sasuke glared at him until the other man realised he'd have to offer a better explanation "To get to know you, for Sakura's sake"

"Hasn't that been what all the appearing at my lunch breaks has been about" Sasuke asked.

"I still think there's more to you than you let on" Naruto said and Sasuke suddenly felt uneasy "There's something slightly off about what you've told me" Sasuke cursed to himself, since when did this idiot get so perceptive, he had been too focused on thinking that Shikamaru was a problem he hadn't even considered Naruto, the loudmouthed idiot, to be much of a threat when it came to figuring Sasuke out. Still, Naruto was probably way off the mark when it came to what was 'off' about Sasuke as the truth was so unreal, so unbelievable that Sasuke doubted he could guess what was wrong.

"So" Naruto said dragging out the sound "Sakura". Sasuke almost rolled his eyes, it wasn't as if he'd had this conversation before with the multitude of Sakura's friends and even Naruto himself on occasion. It was getting boring.

"So, Hinata" Sasuke said instead of his usual part that was something along the lines of that he cared for her and wasn't planning on doing a thing to harm her. Naruto froze at Sasuke's words and Sasuke decided that her liked Naruto a lot better when he was quiet, and not trying to nose his way into Sasuke's life. After a while Sasuke decided to take pity on Naruto, that is, when he thought Naruto had stewed in his embarrassment enough.

"You don't have to stay on the floor you know" He said flopping back onto the seat he was on before. Sasuke frowned at Naruto who pulled himself up onto his hands and knees to do an almost shuffle across the floor and manoeuvre himself onto the sofa. Sasuke wondered what was so wrong with standing up like normal people.

"So" Naruto said again, crossing his legs on the seat and positioning himself so he was facing Sasuke head on. Sasuke was silent and Naruto watched him carefully.

"Hinata's really nice" Naruto said finally. There was another pause.

"I guess" Sasuke said finally when it became clear that Naruto wanted a response.

"How did you know?" Naruto asked and Sasuke frowned at him again, "how did you know I liked her?"

"Everyone knows" Sasuke said "idiot" he added under his breath and for once Naruto didn't respond to the insult.

"Even Hinata?" Naruto said, his eyes almost comically wide. Sasuke shrugged. "She's too good for someone like me" Naruto said.

"Why do you say that?" Sasuke asked, feeling curious since Naruto looked unusually subdued. This time Naruto shrugged.

"Just because, you know, she's on a completely different level to me. She's got a better family background, education, everything. She's too good for me. What could I offer her? She's got, what's the word, class" They were both quiet for a moment as they both thought that class was something that Naruto definitely didn't have. Although Naruto was glad when Sasuke didn't say anything about it out loud even though he half expected him to as he had never worried about sparing his feelings before.

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably as the conversation shifted into the realms of thoughts and feelings, something Sasuke was never fond of sharing especially when it was something so intimate as that. But Naruto was looking at him with pleading expression and Sasuke felt compelled to say something almost comforting. He thought of what he could offer Sakura as he had nothing but his artificial life, no real past, no family, no friends - not lifelong ones like she had, no money beyond what he had earned and sometimes he had to wonder if he even had a future, on his own or one to share with her.

"Maybe it's okay if you just love her" he said finally. Naruto looked doubtful.

"Do you really think so?" He said and Sasuke just shrugged.

"I don't think I'm the best person to ask" he muttered and Naruto looked up sharply.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He said "is something the matter with Sakura?" He leant forward to glare at Sasuke, who just ignored him as he usually did and stared straight ahead. "Hey!" Naruto said loudly "tell me, what do you mean by that?" He demanded.

"It's nothing" Sasuke sighed "just that I don't know much about these things" Naruto shot him a suspicious look but let the subject drop.

"I don't _want_ to hurt Sakura" Sasuke said. That much was true but it didn't mean it wouldn't happen. Naruto seemed appeased by this though.

"Did you know I used to like Sakura?" Naruto said and Sasuke shot him a dangerous look out of the corner of his eye. Naruto grinned "relax", he said playfully, "it was a long time ago and she never liked me that way anyway" he looked thoughtful.

"What I mean is that Sakura means a lot to me and when I first met her she practically lit up the room when she smiled and then that bastard broke her heart" Naruto clenched his fists "and I couldn't do anything to help her. But you did and she's so happy now. I'm kind of jealous that you, someone she met only a year ago could do more than her friends who have known her for years." Sasuke shifted uncomfortably as Naruto trapped him in his steady gaze and eventually it was Naruto who looked away to glance down at his hands which were still clenched into fists in the sofa cushions.

"Well" Sasuke said "maybe it was easier to talk to someone who hadn't seen her go through all that I mean you said that at the time she was really upset."

"I think devastated is more the word" Naruto said. "But she was happier and then she met you" Sasuke glanced away to look at the stack of papers he had left on the side where he had written out his entire life. His chest suddenly felt constricted as he thought about Sakura she had certainly grown happier over the past few months. Was it really all his own doing? He had never thought of it like that. He had only presumes that he was part of a natural process in getting over Tanzo, she had created Sasuke in one of her lowest moments so it seemed only right that she would be moving on. And now Naruto had attributed all of her happiness to him and Sasuke didn't know how he should feel about that.

Naruto had claimed that she could light up a room with her smile but the one thing Sasuke really noticed about her was how her eyes shone when she was excited or happy, he had first noticed it when he had taken her to the park in winter how her eyes seemed to glitter in the cold as her held her hand and refused to answer her questions as he took her to the picnic spot. Now, when she looked at him, when she smiled, when she talked to her friends Sasuke looked at her face at her animated features as she smiled or broke out into surprised laughter, but most of all he looked at her eyes and the way they seemed to radiate her emotions, her joy, and more recently her fondness towards him. He was reluctant to think of it as love. Even though he knew it was likely she felt that way, why wouldn't she he was made for her.

Naruto looked lost in his own thoughts as he looked blankly across the room.

"Hey" he said softly "do you think that Hinata might give me a chance to win her over?" Sasuke almost gaped at him although he was able to hide his surprise, for someone who was able to see beyond the normal human existence Sasuke presented he seemed especially naïve about his own life. Both Naruto and Hinata spent most of their time together exchanging awkward words and stealing glances when they thought the other wasn't looking.

"I think she might" Sasuke said and Naruto gave him a cautious smile.

"You really think so" he said hopefully. Sasuke found himself looking away again, unable to meet Naruto's eyes, unable to imagine what the other may be feeling, the hope, disbelief and longing that the girl he had been pining over for longer than Sasuke had even existed might even be interested in him too.

Sakura laughed softly as Ino and Tenten began their new favourite past time of mercilessly teasing Hinata. The other girl was steadily turning red as both Ino and Tenten made increasingly bizarre suggestions for Hinata to get Naruto's attention the latest being to turn up on his doorstep in a coat - just a coat.

"You keep saying all this stuff but have either of you ever done it?" Hinata squeaked.

"I doubt it" Sakura muttered and Tenten laughed.

"No I can't see Neji going for any if that" she said. Ino sat back in her chair the expression on her face was a mix of embarrassment and smugness.

"Ino!" Sakura said in surprise "you have?".

"Once" Ino said airily as she tried to make it seem like it was no big deal.

"So what did you do?" Tenten asked.

"It was for an anniversary with an ex-boyfriend it was just a bit of fun" she said.

"You still haven't said what you did" Tenten said.

"I turned up at his house in my coat and with just some lingerie underneath" Ino said flushing slightly.

"And?" Hinata asked biting her bottom lip as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Ino grinned sheepishly.

"And it was worth it" she said "I got to see his face light up when he saw it. He was such a simple man really" she added fondly.

"I never knew you did that" Sakura said sounding scandalised. "And I thought as your best friend you'd told me everything"

"Please Sakura I highly doubt you've told me the ins and outs of your relationship with Sasuke or anyone else for that matter." She gave Sakura an arch look "so tell us" she said leaning forward and relishing in the long pause as the others wondered what bombshell Ino was going to drop now "have you banged Sasuke yet?" Sakura choked.

"What?" She asked.

"Oh come on" She said "have you two done the dirty, have you shagged him?"

"Made the beast with two backs" Tenten added, not so helpfully in Sakura's opinion. She glanced at Hinata but it looked like she'd receive no help there as she also looked interested.

"She definitely has" Ino exclaimed as Sakura felt herself flushing she reached over and patted Sakura on the hand "well it was about time I'm sure"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura squeaked.

"Well it's been almost a year" Ino said and Sakura glared at her.

"But we've actually only been dating a few months" she said an Ino shrugged.

"Minor detail" she said "I'm surprised you didn't do him earlier" Sakura looked shocked.

"Ino! I'd never do something like that" she said.

"I know" Ino said airily "you're too much of a prude to do something like that."

"I'm not a prude" Sakura protested.

"You are" Ino said "you're still blushing from when I asked you if you've had sex with Sasuke yet" Sakura looked away placing her hands on her flushed cheeks.

"So what?" She muttered "and how come you're saying all this to me when Hinata's just as bad"

"Because Hinata's sweetly naïve, her idea and experiences of romance are straight out of an Austen novel"

"That's not true" Hinata protested and Tenten grinned at Ino.

"Or maybe not everybody it as free and open in pursuing their relationships as you are" she said and Ino scowled at her.

"Is this just you trying to tactfully say I can be a bit of a slut?" She asked playfully. Tenten shook her head slightly.

"No, because then that would make me one too as I slept with Neji after our first date" Ino smirked at her.

"Please don't turn this into another conversation about my cousin's sexual prowess I really don't want to hear it, the same way I didn't want to hear it the last ten times as well" Hinata said loudly and Ino and Tenten exchanged grins.

"I can deal with that" Ino said brightly "besides what I'm really interested in is what Sakura's done with Sasuke"

"Or maybe it's nothing to do with you and what I may or may not have done it irrelevant" Sakura said huffily and Ino raised her eyebrows.

"Ooh" she said "you really feel protective of this new relationship, or is it just Sasuke" Sakura glared at her half heartedly. "Have you said your 'I love you's' yet?" She asked more seriously. Sakura shook her head thoughtfully.

"No" she said slowly "we haven't. I haven't."

"But you do right?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah" Sakura said with a small smile "I do love him." Ino smiled at her.

"I'm happy for you Sakura" She said "I know I don't say it because I like teasing you about Sasuke but you know that right" Sakura nodded.

"Thanks Ino" She said.

"Are you going to tell him?" Hinata asked "Sasuke I mean. That you love him." Sakura shrugged slightly as she looked down to fiddle with her empty glass.

"Yeah" She said slowly "I think I will."


	13. Chapter 13

Sasuke sat down and sighed. He had finally managed to get rid of Naruto, having to practically force the other man out of the door after dropping several hints and pretending to yawn for the past hour or so. However Naruto had kept talking happily despite all of Sasuke's heavy hints as he was seemingly to be oblivious to them and when Sasuke had finally asked him to leave point blank Naruto kept claiming to be oh so offended that Sasuke had even suggested such a thing. Eventually Sasuke had managed to ease Naruto out of the living room and into the hallway as he still talked at Sasuke about how mean he was being. Something Sasuke felt completely justified in ignoring, he didn't need to hear that from someone who had effectively force their way into his house and had managed to obtain his address through illicit means.

When he had finally ejected Naruto from his house, even if the other man had stood on the doorstep complaining some more for a few moments, he had felt relieved. As he no longer needed to listen to Naruto's endless chatter, which was now mostly centred around Hinata as he seemed to think that he could confide in Sasuke how much he cared about Hinata and tell him every little detail about the object of his affection without seeming to realise that Sasuke didn't really care especially about the apparently 'cute' habit she had of twiddling her fingers. Hinata was nice he could acknowledge that much but Sasuke didn't want to hear hour long raptures about her.

However, now the house seemed strangely quiet and he almost missed Naruto's endless babble, it was too quiet, something that hadn't crossed Sasuke's mind before as he had previously enjoyed sitting in solitude. He looked at the pile of papers that he had picked up again and read some of what he had written on them, the writing blurring together as he looked at them feeling what, disappointment? Confused? He no longer had any idea where his so-called life was headed, or where most of this had come from. He could remember things he had never lived through like the major trafficking ring that the police had caught several years ago headed by a man known as Orochimaru as if had featured on the news recently and Sasuke had felt a dim memory stir at the article even though he had thought he hadn't heard of it before and hadn't existed when it was happening. His life was a changing, merging into something he didn't know or understand and it frightened him in a way. Something Sasuke had responded to the only way he knew, with resentment, and he didn't know how to react to Sakura anymore.

Sasuke slumped back in his seat, staring vacantly at the ceiling. It was suddenly far too quiet, the silence was becoming almost oppressive.

He missed Sakura.

It was an unexpected thought especially after he had spend the first few weeks of his existence trying to escape her, disappearing when he had the chance to, but he wanted to see her again, even if he had only seen her a few days ago, and even if it was only just for a little while.

Sasuke frowned at the ceiling, wondering when he had become that used to Sakura's presence in his life that he felt strange when he wasn't with her, almost as if he was unaccustomed to being without her. He wondered when he'd gotten so pathetic pining for Sakura's company and actively seeking her out like a dog waiting for its owner. Sasuke scowled.

At this stage he didn't know, or rather he couldn't tell, if the connection between them was weakening, as it was no longer pressuring him to stay as close to Sakura, or if it was growing stronger and influencing him differently as he now had a growing desire to spend time with her anyway and he found it easy to tell what she was thinking or feeling without having to consciously access the bond between then as if it was invading his subconscious.

Sasuke sighed. No matter how much he thought about it he wasn't getting anywhere. One thing was for sure though, he wanted to see Sakura. Sasuke glanced at his watch, it wasn't that late and he knew Sakura was going out tonight, he wondered if she was back yet, or if she had gone to sleep already.

Sasuke barely noticed moving as he got up and wandered into the hallway he pulled his shoes on and hovered at the door, wondering whether to go and see Sakura, if it would be a good idea or not although it was likely that she would be glad to see him Sasuke wasn't sure if prolonged contact with Sakura would help him or not.

However his subconscious seemed to decide for him as before he knew it Sasuke had left the house and walked briskly down the street head down as he went, it was easy to walk to Sakura's house as, luckily, their respective houses were not too far apart.

Although saying it was lucky was more a figure of speech as it was probably whatever force created him that placed their houses so conveniently close together. Still, as he walked out through the night the persistent tug that drew him towards Sakura seemed weaker than it usually was. Instead there was a strange tightening in his chest at the thought of seeing her and he was suddenly glad that Sakura didn't live far away from him. He almost wanted to smile at the thought of seeing her face. Sasuke sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked.

It was still bright despite it being night time the moon was full and hung, larger than usual, over the houses. Sasuke turned the corner onto Sakura's road and he felt slightly relieved when he saw her house with some of the lights on, she was back and she was still up, it was what he had been hoping for. At least he thought he probably had been anyway as the half of him that used to scream at him to stay away from her and for him to try and assert his own identity separate to the one he had gained from Sakura was more or less silenced now. Sasuke paused on Sakura's doorstep as he contemplated what to do. He moved back and glanced up at her home, it looked warm and inviting, rather like a reflection of Sakura herself, and he wondered once again what he was doing.

Sasuke took another step back onto the road and almost turned to leave when he saw her through a gap in the curtains moving about the living room in a vest top and shorts with a light cardigan on top. It looked like she was getting ready to go to sleep. And he felt an ache in his chest at the sight of her. Longing maybe. He wasn't good with those kinds of feelings, having been mainly educated about them through the old black and white movies he had found on the television and from those girly films Sakura seemed so fond of. The dull ones with the endings that were always unsurprising.

He walked slowly back to the door and rang the door bell and listened to the pause before he heard footsteps and saw Sakura's shape moving towards the door through the frosted glass.

Sakura opened the door carefully, probably wondering who would visit her so late, but she still gave Sasuke a warm smile when she saw him, something he didn't respond to. Instead, he studied her face carefully with the same guarded expression she had now resigned herself to seeing. She had become used to seeing him looking more or less impassive to everything, rarely showing the playful or teasing expressions she used to see. But sometimes she still half hoped she'd see the warm smiles he used to give her when they had first met. Even though Sakura could tell something seemed to have changed inside him, he was more reserved but she still saw glimpses of the Sasuke she first met, he seemed troubled by something he either felt he couldn't or didn't want to tell her. Although sometimes he seemed to forget himself and give her an almost smile meanwhile Sakura hoped she could be there for him as he had been for her.  
"Hey, I kind of missed you tonight" Sakura said and Sasuke's expression softened slightly.

"I wanted to see you" he said with a shrug. It was a simple truth but it made Sakura smile bashfully at him again and he briefly wondered why he had thought of walking away earlier.

"Come in" she said stepping aside. Sasuke followed her to the living room, trailing his fingers down her arm impulsively as he passed her. Sakura looked thoughtfully at him as he sat down next to her and turned his head to watch her.

"What is it?" Sakura asked but Sasuke didn't reply instead he glanced away. Sakura sighed but again it went ignored or was unnoticed by Sasuke. She studied his face carefully as he rested his head on his hand as he leant against the arm rest.

"Did you have a good night?" Sasuke asked and he said it so quietly that Sakura almost missed it.

"Yeah it was great" she said and then trailed off as she remembered her confession that night to her friends. Sakura glanced at Sasuke and flushed. Sasuke looked at her curiously and she hurriedly looked away to avoid his eyes. He frowned slightly usually Sakura told him a lot more than that as she usually related every event in much more detail. He didn't know what to say, if he should say anything at all so he found it best to stay silent. "It was certainly something" Sakura said to herself.

"I had an unexpected visitor tonight" Sasuke said after a while.

"Who was it?" She asked and Sasuke gave her a half hearted glare.

"Your friend-slash-watchdog Naruto" He said flatly and Sakura tried not to giggle at Sasuke's exasperated expression.

"Oh dear" she said covering her mouth with her hand to hide her smile. "How does he know where you live?" She asked remembering Ino's comments that Naruto was practically Sasuke's stalker these days. Sasuke shrugged.

"I didn't really want to ask" he muttered "I'm not sure I wanted to hear the answer." This time Sakura gave him a faint smile.

"In case he told you he'd been following you home?" She asked innocently and Sasuke groaned.

"Don't say that it might be true" he said.

"Naruto always has the best intentions, he just has his own, sometimes strange, way of doing things" Sakura said.

"If you say so" Sasuke muttered and Sakura sat up with her arms folded and stuck her nose up in the air.

"Yes, I do say so" she said and Sasuke looked at her strangely. Sakura smiled sheepishly and returned to her slumped position on the sofa, shifting slightly under Sasuke's unwavering gaze.

"Naruto might grow on you eventually" Sakura said but as Sasuke made a noise that was part way between a snort and a grunt she guessed that this would be too much to ask for in the near future or maybe ever. Sakura grinned.

"Yeah that's probably wishful thinking" she said lightly "especially considering how you argue practically as soon as you lay eyes on each other." Sasuke frowned slightly and looked away.

"It's probably not the kind of thing you wanted" Sasuke said softly "you know, having your boyfriend always fighting with your friend" Sakura tried not to look too surprised as Sasuke seemed to be uncharacteristically humble.

"Its fine" Sakura said and Sasuke frowned at her and she could practically feel him mentally accusing her of lying "well it's not ideal" she continued "but really Sasuke you are everything I've ever wanted." She paused to gauge Sasuke's reaction but he seemed even more disheartened by her words "I mean come on just because things aren't perfect it doesn't mean I'm not so happy to be with you, even though you can be really quiet, and grumpy and sort of moody you still mean a lot to me" Sakura said blushing. Sasuke almost smiled at that and Sakura felt strangely relieved by that as if Sasuke wasn't as inaccessible as he sometimes seemed to be. Sasuke had certainly changed since Sakura had first met him, he was quieter, troubled and was subsequently less open with her than before which was saying something as he had never told her anything much about himself before.

"I see" Sasuke said slowly.

"Sasuke what's really been bothering you?" Sakura asked "you haven't been yourself for a while" Sasuke looked up at her sharply.

"Maybe that's the problem" he said eventually after he had considered Sakura's words.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke shrugged.

"Maybe I don't know how to be myself or what that means" he said finally and Sakura could see that he seemed to be struggling to find the words he needed.

"Hmm" Sakura frowned as she attempted to understand what Sasuke was trying to say and she cod remember having a similar conversation with him before. It was strange how Sasuke seemed to be unsure of his place in the world when he was usually so self assured, she had even heard Naruto use the words 'arrogant bastard' during some of their numerous fights and he could probably be seen that way as he was generally extremely confident in what he did.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you" Sakura sighed "whatever you're feeling it's something only you can figure out"

"I think I just need some time to sort through things on my own" he said as he knew there were some things that would be impossible to explain. That he didn't even know who he was anymore, or who he was supposed to be. He felt strangely unsure of himself and it was only really Sakura who was anchoring him to the world now as the only thing real in his life.

Sakura tried to smile, despite all the time she spent with Sasuke she often had the feeling that he was moving away from her somehow and she couldn't pretend that it didn't worry her sometimes and she began to fear that he was losing interest in her as he was often so withdrawn, but other times, most of the time rather, with Sasuke she felt so happy and secure that she wondered why she was even doubting their relationship.

Things were certainly getting confusing and although Sakura knew that it was too much to hope that it would be smooth sailing with Sasuke once they were in a relationship, as although Ino used to teasingly call him Sakura's Mr Perfect it seemed he was anything but, and it frustrated her that even though she had confided in him many of the details of her life including the parts she hadn't told her friends.

Still, she was able to swallow these feelings and hide her insecurities from Sasuke and even from her friends as she didn't want them worrying about her or treating Sasuke with more suspicion than they already did as the person who might take their Sakura away from them, at least that's what Tenten had said about him, and that after Tanzo who had also seemed like a nice enough guy at the beginning they may be a little over protective of her.

"Sorry" Sasuke said awkwardly and Sakura looked up at him startled "I didn't mean for this to happen." This time Sakura managed to give him a warm smile, having Sasuke apologise was a rare and almost unheard of occurrence.

"Of course you didn't" She said "no one does." Sakura drummed her fingers of the arm rest and frowned at Sasuke. "Well if you ever want to talk I'm here" She said finally and Sasuke gave a small noise of agreement "or, of course, there's always Naruto" Sakura grinned as Sasuke scowled at her "what I just thought that you two seem to be getting close and I'm sure Naruto won't mind if you confided in him" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Just the thought of that is terrifying" Sasuke said flatly and Sakura giggled.

"I told you he's got his heart in the right place" She said.

"Shame nothing else is"

"You two are so mean about each other" Sakura said.

"Because you and Ino never are" Sasuke muttered.

"That's different we're friends" Sasuke shrugged slightly and Sakura almost felt her jaw drop. "Did you just admit to being friend with Naruto?" She asked incredulously and Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her.

"No" He said and Sakura grinned.

"Oh? I think you did"

"You must have misinterpreted it"

"You're so stubborn" Sakura muttered and Sasuke raised his eyebrow at her.

"And you're not?" He asked. Sakura tried to look innocent.

"No?" She said but it sounded more like a question than anything else. Sasuke smirked and reached over the sofa to grab Sakura and he ran his fingers across her sides. Sakura squirmed.

"Don't" She squeaked and Sasuke just moved his fingers up to her rib cage and across her stomach.

"Don't what?" He asked and Sakura tried, ineffectively, to shift away from him.

"It tickles" She said biting her bottom lip while trying not to laugh.

"That doesn't make me want to stop" Sasuke said and Sakura giggled helplessly he stopped to let her catch her breath and Sakura sighed.

I'm glad" She said slumping back into the cushioned sofa.

"Of what?" Sasuke asked shooting Sakura a curious look.

"That you're you" Sakura said giving Sasuke a cryptic smile and he frowned slightly "even if you don't know what that means yourself I'm still glad and when you manage to sort out everything you're dealing with everything will be perfect" She paused and then finally voiced "Whether we're together or apart" Sasuke jerked slightly and turned to stare at Sakura but she had an awkward smile plastered on her face he felt strange at what she had said as there was a strange constricted feeling in his chest. "Right Sasuke?" Sakura asked resting her hands on the sofa cushions to lean towards him.

She smiled brightly at him and in that moment Sasuke felt himself slip. He smiled back at her. Sakura glanced away and fidgeted slightly at his warm look. Sasuke looked at Sakura's awkward expression and felt a burning sensation in his chest. He imitated her actions, leaning forward on his hands only to raise one of them to brush his hand against Sakura's face to get her to look at him again. Sasuke brought his hand round to the back of her neck to pull her closer.

Sakura made a small noise as if to question what he was doing before he kissed her ever so softly on the lips. He pulled back slightly and held back a sigh that he knew would just worry her as for some reason he had felt nervous before kissing Sakura even though he knew logically that it was ridiculous. Sasuke kissed her again and again and Sakura responded warmly to it. He brought his hand down from her neck to her back to pull her closer to him.

It was easy to acknowledge that Sakura was special to him in some way. She was the one person Sasuke really looked to, whether to check her reactions or feelings towards things or in the way he saw something when he was out and thought it would be something she would appreciate. Sakura was always saying that he had done so much for her in letting her talk about her ex-boyfriend Tanzo, and in inadvertently getting her to find herself again. However it wasn't all one sided Sasuke could admit that as she had brought some joy to his life the same way he had done with hers.

"Don't be stupid" Sasuke breathed as despite everything he was unable to even imagine his world without Sakura in it.

"Sorry" Sakura whispered.

"And don't apologise" Sasuke added and Sakura grinned.

"So demanding" She said and she stood up pulling Sasuke with her so he now loomed above her.

"Mmm" Sasuke made a noise as he lowered his head to brush his nose against Sakura's "And?" He could still see Sakura's eyes shining with happiness, and if that wasn't enough he could practically feel the excitement radiating off her, that and nerves which was stupid, he thought, she should know that he cared about her.

She slowly reached up to touch the side of his face and gently pulled him down to kiss him. Although soon all the gentleness ended as she pressed herself as close to him as she could something Sasuke responded to just as keenly wrapping one arm round her waist to hold her against him while the other was buried in her hair as he kissed her sometimes roughly pulling at parts of it. Sakura pushed herself up on the tips of her feet so Sasuke didn't have to lean down as much and had  
wrapped both arms around his neck, playing with his hair. She let out a soft moan and she felt Sasuke smirk slightly at her response, but before she could complain about this he shifted his arm around her to rest under her bottom and pulled her up Sakura let out a squeak or surprise and Sasuke pulled away from her to give her a small smile.

Sakura glared at him and wrapped her legs around her waist, yanking his head back towards him to kiss him again. From then on it turned into an almost stubborn competition of who was going to back down first as Sasuke began to manoeuvre them from the middle of the living room and towards the doorway Sakura found herself pressed between Sasuke, the wall and part of the door frame she winced but refused to complain and tried to get the better of him by sticking her hand up his shirt and running her hands and nails across the muscles of his back, hearing with some satisfaction Sasuke's breath hitch slightly, she smirked against his mouth and Sasuke just pushed  
against her further until as she could feel was his heat, his body pressed against hers firmly and the cool plaster of the wall behind her. She preferred the heat.

Sasuke broke away from the kiss and as Sakura leant her head against the wall to gasp for breath he kissed his way down her neck slowly and across her collar bone. Sakura awkwardly shrugged her cardigan down her shoulders as she was still firmly positioned between Sasuke and the wall, neither allowing much room for movement, but she was finally able to take her arms out of it and as Sasuke took this as an opportunity to kiss more of Sakura's exposed skin moving to press kisses across her shoulders, Sakura slid her hands up Sasuke's top again but this time with the goal to remove it. She pushed Sasuke slightly forcing him to let go of Sakura's thighs so she found  
herself standing again as he helped her pull his t-shirt over his head and Sakura stepped forward, away from the wall she had been held against, to kiss him again, and again and again hearing a soft thump as the cardigan hit the floor. She felt his hands gliding across her back and stomach moving up her sides to brush against her breasts.

"Off" Sasuke muttered tugging at Sakura's vest top.

"Gladly" Sakura gasped in response, planting one more kiss firmly on the side of his mouth before stepping back to let Sasuke remove the desired item of clothing she watched as he cast it aside and it joined his own top on the floor.

Her heart beat erratically as Sasuke tugged her back into his arms, holding her securely as he kissed her and continued to run his hands across her bare skin. It was different she realised and as soon as that stray thought crossed her mind it was all she could focus on. How Sasuke seemed different and even the way he caressed her now was a marked change from the first time she had gotten this intimate with him.

He was rougher whereas before he had been extremely tender, as if she had been made of glass he seemed to be afraid of hurting her if he had been too rough. She hadn't minded at the time it was nice and thinking back on it almost like those mushy romance novels, (a weakness of most women and Sakura was no exception), where the male protagonist was said to revere the women's body. But this, Sakura mused as Sasuke managed to push her backwards into the hallway and she found herself with her back pressed into the banister, this was more than nice.

Sakura felt behind her with her foot and found the edge of the first step, she stepped backwards on to it and pulled back to grin at Sasuke.

"Socks" she said and used the time it took Sasuke to duck down and remove them to catch her breath. When he straightened she reached out to tangle her fingers in his hair again and this time she avoided his mouth and placed kisses down his neck like he had earlier. Sasuke groaned slightly and pulled her face up to meet his and her kissed her for the umpteenth time that night enjoying that he didn't have to lean down so far this time. That was until Sakura took another step  
back pulling away from him slightly so Sasuke had to lean further forward to kiss her the way her wanted to and he had to remedy this by moving onto the first step to get closer to her.

Sakura giggled slightly as she kept planting small kisses on Sasuke before moving further up the stairs to his frustration. He finally caught her a few steps from the top and wrapped his arms around the tops of her legs, lifting her up slightly to stop her from ducking away from him again, as he walked up the final few stairs to trap Sakura completely against the wall.

"Now where are you going to run away to?" Sasuke asked and Sakura ran her hand up Sasuke's arm to grasp the back of his neck lightly.

"Who says I'm running away" she said softly pressing kisses across Sasuke's collar bone.

"Then why do you keep moving away from me?" Sasuke said softly tugging at the shorts she was wearing to smooth his hands across the skin.

"I could be trying to lure you up to my room" Sakura said with a smile. Sasuke allowed himself to chuckle slightly and he wrapped his arms around her waist smoothing his hands across her skin.

Sasuke could see Sakura's eyes shining as she looked up at him she smiled softly at him before pressing gentle kisses down his chest. Sasuke pressed himself against Sakura further and used this force to manoeuvre Sakura further back towards her bedroom. Suddenly Sakura felt a wall at her back again as Sasuke had forgotten about the corner that stuck out in her landing. He almost groaned in frustration and Sakura giggled slightly with her lips still pressed against his skin, it was a strange, although not unpleasant, sensation.

"Stupid wall" Sasuke muttered and he felt Sakura grin before she shoved him, hard, forcing Sasuke to back into the opposite wall himself and he flinched from the shock than any pain. He could almost sense her amusement and he briefly wondered how he knew that. Whether their shared bond was becoming such a part of him that he no longer needed to consciously try to access it, if it was leaking into his thought and life uncontrollably. All thoughts of this, however, fled when Sakura pressed her lips against his again.

"Aw, let me make it up to you" Sakura said with a wicked grin and with just one look at her face Sasuke realised that he was lost and that even if he could run away to the other side of the world away from Sakura he didn't want to but he still couldn't squash the feelings of resentment at Sakura's carelessness that brought him into being he couldn't deny that she had an effect on him.

Sasuke tugged at Sakura's remaining clothes, pulling them swiftly off her and dumping them on the floor as she did the same to him before they made it to her room stumbling slightly. He kissed her over and over again something Sakura responded to with just as much force and then it happened. Sasuke felt a sudden lightening of spirit as if he had been carrying something heavy and the weight had finally been lifted off him. And Sasuke suddenly realised that it was because Sakura didn't need him anymore, he had filled the void Tanzo had left and she had began to love and laugh again making his position in her life now redundant, she had her friends and he had no place in her world anymore.

Sasuke pulled away from Sakura and she took a small step back as he had frozen up.

"Sasuke? Is something the matter?" Sakura asked, looking at him with concern. Sasuke stared at her, the young, vibrant woman with all her imperfections, her insane friends and all her hopes and fears and he didn't want to let her go.

"No its fine. I just had a sudden thought, it's nothing." He said dismissively, wrapping his arms around her. And Sasuke realised that he didn't deserve Sakura as she needed to be with someone who could be with her wholeheartedly and he didn't have a heart at all.

"You're thinking" Sakura said "I must be doing something wrong, let me fix that" And as she pulled him into her room and down onto that bed Sasuke selfishly realised that he wanted her, however impossible it may be so for that moment he allowed himself to forget everything and just enjoy everything Sakura had to offer so he pulled her down on top on him and kissed her. They moved together gently absorbed in one another sharing soft kisses and touches and Sakura was once again struck by the passion and almost desperation that Sasuke now held almost as if he was a different person.  
Afterwards Sakura lay there feeling confused and vulnerable as she wondered what Sasuke felt about her, it was something she hadn't dwelt on for a long time feeling secure in his presence but now she felt unsure once again a feeling that was heightened y her awareness of her own feelings.

Sakura's head spun after the conversation she had had earlier with Ino about Sasuke and any doubts she had earlier about her feeling for him had vanished completely and she could only hope that this wouldn't leave her totally exposed to him and she sincerely hoped that he felt, at least a little bit, the same way for her.

She reached out across the bed and trailed her arm along Sasuke's. Sakura propped herself up on her elbow and watched his face carefully. His eyes were closed but as he felt her move they opened and he sat up to look at her. She smiled warmly at her and Sasuke pulled her back down into his arms. She relaxed into him and after a few minutes she felt his breath even out he grew still and she wondered if Sasuke had fallen asleep. She took a deep breath and tried to steady her nerves she was still scared even after everything that she had shared with Sasuke, after all the secrets she had shared with him, all the moments they had shared.

"I love you" Sakura whispered softly, so softly Sasuke could pretend he didn't hear her if he wanted to, but instead he reached out and laid a hand on the top of her head as she leaned toward him. He gently ran his fingers through her hair and watched the peaceful look on Sakura's face as she relaxed. He wondered what it had cost her to say those words.

Sasuke sighed, there was nothing he could do now, Sakura's hold on him was gradually weakening, and maybe tonight it had completely broken, as he had filled the loneliness she had been feeling when she called him into being. He wondered if he could walk away now without turning into nothing, but at what cost, what would it do to Sakura if he left and never came back and for that matter what would it do to him. She should never have fallen in love with him, or even grown to care for him but that was more or less inevitable and Sasuke knew that he had encouraged it anyway as he had always sought out her company and now he was left with a mess he had no way of untangling. It was as if someone has spend weeks knotting pieces of string together until the only way of separating them was to take some scissors to them. But then the individual pieces would remain damaged, and Sakura had already been damaged once before.


	14. Chapter 14

Weeks past in a blissfully slow manner to Sakura, so she felt able to savour the time she spent with Sasuke. And, although Ino no longer accused them of being joined at the hip as she had done previously, always out of Sasuke's earshot, they always seemed to find each other's company, whether Sasuke sought her out at home or after work or Sakura tried to meet him for lunch which had become something Sakura had come to appreciate and almost take for granted in the time she had known him.

However Sasuke's mood often changed and he was becoming hard to predict. He was at times quiet and withdrawn but every so often she got flashes of the old Sasuke who grinned at her and made her laugh so freely. Sakura often found herself guessing or rather trying to anticipate what mood Sasuke would be in when they met up but most of all she had noticed that whatever he seemed to be feeling he seemed willing, or dare she hope that he was keen, to meet up with her regularly.

Sasuke had some strange quirks to him, she had discovered, and his sudden moodiness was only one of them. But Sakura felt she couldn't really criticise him for it being renowned for having apparently "freakish strength especially for a girl" and a short temper, all of which had been demonstrated in one night where she managed to beat all of her friends in an arm wrestling contest culminating in her punching Naruto when he loudly protested, causing him to black out for all of three seconds. Needless to say her friends had never let her live it down.

But at the same time her constant second guessing of Sasuke's mood was tiresome and she found herself being irritated and enchanted by him in turns and Sakura knew deep in the back of her mind, someplace she was afraid to admit existed, that she was scared. Scared of what was happening to Sasuke and what it would mean to then and despite the brave words she had said to Sasuke on more than one occasion she still felt insecure and she didn't know if she could ever reach him properly through whatever troubles he seemed to be having.

Things were certainly getting complicated but, despite that, as Sakura left the hospital after a long day seeing Sasuke leaning against the railings outside somehow made her feel so much better. Even if he was scowling at those passing by.

"Hey" Sakura said approaching Sasuke with a smile.

"You finished?" Sasuke asked and Sakura bit back a sarcastic retort, of course she was finished why else would she be running out the hospital as soon as she could.

"Yes" She said instead.

"Good" Sasuke muttered "Let's go." He turned and began to walk away and Sakura glared at his back for a moment, _whatever happened to asking_ she thought bitterly, but when Sasuke turned and raised his eyebrows at her "or was there something else you wanted to go and do" Sakura hesitated, more to make a point than anything else, that she was not going to drop everything the moment he arrived as her life did not revolve around him no matter what Sasuke seemed to think these days. Sasuke sighed and walked back towards her.

"Come on" He said softly as he leant down towards her and Sakura shrugged slightly, trying to be unperturbed at his closeness.

"If you insist" She said airily, even if both of them knew she would have followed him in the first place Sakura appreciated the fact that he had, almost, said it as a request the second time, and the fact that he had even said it a second time was almost a wonder in itself.

"So" Sakura said as she slipped her hand into Sasuke's and he gave it a slight squeeze "Where are we going?"

"You'll see" Sasuke said and Sakura grinned as this was very much like the month or so where they had first met where Sasuke took her off around the city for a number of surprises.

"It better be somewhere good" Sakura muttered, following Sasuke in a strange sort of gait to catch up with his long strides. Sasuke didn't say anything in reply but Sakura was used to that by now, he didn't seem to say more than was strictly necessary now. Still, Sakura was had always been persistent so she preceded to tell Sasuke about her day at the hospital in a large amount of detail to try and get some kind of response from him that wasn't just a grunt to show he was listening.

"-and Kiba's back in the hospital" She said "which is impressive I suppose that he managed to stay out of it for about eight months but he's as irritable as ever to be confined to bed rest even for a little bit"

"What happened?" Sasuke asked. He sounded bored but Sakura was happy that he had even responded, apparently he was listening to her.

"Well, he says that he got mauled by a lion but I think he's just trying to make himself seem more impressive. He's got quite a few deep scratches on his arm though, so he had to get a few stitches and we're keeping him in overnight to make sure there's no infection or any complications" Sasuke nodded thoughtfully.

"Are you hungry?" He asked, Sakura nodded and Sasuke almost smiled, that is, his expression softened for a moment when he looked at her. "Good. Let's go" He said firmly, setting off in, what seemed to Sakura, a random direction so she was, as usual, trailing slightly behind him.

"I suppose there's no point in asking where?" Sakura asked lightly and Sasuke glanced back at her, shaking his head slightly. "I thought not." She murmured.

Sakura followed Sasuke through town and after a while she realised that they were following a similar route she used to walk home as soon as she realised this Sasuke changed the direction they were walking in that would have led them to her house and she eventually found herself outside the restaurant he had taken her to on their first date together.

"This is-" She started and Sasuke almost smiled again.

"I know, it's been almost a year after all" He said and suddenly all the little annoyances, and Sasuke's shifts in attitude didn't seem to matter in the face of this gesture.

She followed him into the restaurant and by being in the same place with him it only served to highlight the differences in attitude Sasuke had as she found herself sitting opposite him once again feeling no less uncomfortable and unsure of herself as she did the first time they were there. Last time Sasuke had talked brightly to her asking questions about her work and life, even if he had diverted her away from her own questions to him, he put her at ease. Now Sasuke was scrutinising her with an unreadable expression and Sakura almost felt as if it was a stranger opposite her, not the man she had almost spent a year laughing and conversing with.

They ate more or less in silence as Sakura tried to hold a conversation with Sasuke with him making minimal contributions, until she was more or less just talking as a way to fill in the silence looming between them. A few months ago they could happily spend time together in a comfortable silence but now the long pauses between them made Sakura uneasy. It was as if the silence only highlighted the distance Sasuke seemed to place as a barrier between them.

"Do you want any desert?" Sasuke asked as their first course was cleared away. Sakura shrugged.

"You don't like it" She said, as if it settled the matter.

"But you do" Sasuke said, watching Sakura over his interlocked fingers. "What's the matter?" He added and Sakura frowned. So it was okay for him to ask her questions about her life and how she was feeling but if Sakura attempted the same it was like trying to penetrate an impregnable fortress.

"I just-" She started but then she broke off looking even more annoyed.

"Sakura" Sasuke said softly. But whatever he was going to say she never found out as he clammed up as a waitress approached their table and gave them both a desert menu, smiling particularly at Sasuke. They both took the menu without thinking, and while Sakura thanked the girl Sasuke said nothing, opting to continue to watch Sakura, and yet he still seemed to gain the majority of the waitress's attention. This only served to annoy Sakura further and she glared at the girl's back as she walked away.

"Why is it that suddenly spending time with me seems to be a chore?" Sakura said suddenly. "Because that's what it feels like these days, that it's more of a duty than a pleasure"

"That's not it" Sasuke snapped "I-" He broke off suddenly looking furious, _I still like spending time with you_, he thought but it felt too awkward and he was unable to voice this out loud so, instead, he faced Sakura's grim expression, knowing he had made her unhappy and feeling to conflicted with himself to do anything about it. "It's not like that at all" Sasuke said firmly and Sakura sighed.

"Sorry" She muttered "I seem to keep messing everything up"

"I thought I've told you before not to apologise" Sasuke said "It's not your fault." Sasuke was fairly certain it was his but he didn't want to admit that.

"I'm sorry" Sakura said again, burying her face in her hands. Sasuke stared at her and cautiously reached across the table and took her hand. Sakura took some comfort in Sasuke's strangely sweet gesture but she was scared and confused and although she sometimes recognised the Sasuke she first met in the occasional smile or good humoured observation the quieter, more reserved Sasuke worried her. She could never tell what he was thinking anymore.

"Desert?" Sasuke said , pulling his hand back, Sakura squinted up at him.

"What?" She asked bewildered. Sasuke was studying the desert menu they had been given and seemed to be avoiding her eye.

"There's a strawberry cheesecake, you like that right?" Sakura nodded, her face still covered by her hands. "Well, maybe we could share it, or something" Sasuke continued, and he definitely was avoiding eye contact with her. And then Sakura noticed the faint flush on his face, and the general awkwardness that wasn't typical for Sasuke and it dawned of her. That Sasuke was in his own, rather inept way, trying to make her feel better. It was sweet, but the sudden thought rose in the back of her mind that he used to be far better at comforting her, as if he had known, instinctively, what to do.

"Sure" Sakura said relenting "That sounds good to me."

"Alright" Sasuke said and glanced around to look for the waitress, who appeared suddenly almost as if by magic. Although Sakura suspected that she had been watching Sasuke very closely for the opportunity to try and gain his attention again. This suspicion was confirmed when she was unusually hostile towards Sakura, probably because she had seen Sasuke hold her hand, albeit momentarily.

With the arrival of the cheesecake things looked up as Sasuke seemed to be making an effort to talk to Sakura and lighten the mood. But Sakura found more problems in that as she could tell it was forced and she wondered once again what he was doing here with her. And then she wondered if it was all her, that she was seeing problems that weren't there. So from them on she also made a colossal effort to talk animatedly to Sasuke and to outside observers everything looked fine, as the waitress almost slammed down the bill between them, but both of them felt the strain from the conversation. Still, Sasuke paid and they left together, and Sakura had refused to leave a tip for the girl who was more interested in Sasuke than anything else. She didn't tell him that was the reason though.

Outside they stood awkwardly together, keeping some distance between each other. A distance that they were both acutely aware of as each couple walked past holding hands. Sasuke cleared his throat nervously.

"Well" Sakura said brightly swinging her arms, she faltered slightly under Sasuke's scrutinising look.

"Something's off with you tonight" He said "What's wrong?"

"Oh, like you've been you're usual happy self" Sakura said sarcastically.

"You're upset"

"Maybe"

"Why?" Sakura said nothing, she just stared resolutely off at another couple, they were arguing and the girl with the glasses kept hitting her pale haired companion but he was ducking away from each swipe of her hand laughing. And Sakura's heart ached as she wished to regain that easy familiarity with Sasuke.

"Sakura, why?" He said again, "because of what you said earlier?"

"Because you never tell me anything" Sakura said, clenching her fists slightly, and she was surprised by how steady her voice was.

"There are some things you don't need to know" Sasuke said shortly and Sakura stared furiously at him.

"I've told you everything, even the things you _'didn't need to know'_" She said imitating his tone of voice.

"Don't twist what I'm saying" Sasuke said wearily.

"I'm not" Sakura insisted "I just trying to understand you."

"Don't." Sasuke said curtly "I don't want you to." Sakura gaped at him for a moment before looking away blinking rapidly to try and clear the tears gathering in her eyes, she took a shaky breath.

"Why?" She asked. Sasuke looked down, strangely unsure of himself, he shifted awkwardly for a moment before replying.

"It's better that way." He said finally and Sakura scowled at him for replying so vaguely.

"Is it?" Sakura said softly. "Because from here is seems like you don't trust me."

"I never said that" Sasuke said and Sakura snorted "I couldn't live without you" He added and it was the truth but Sakura just sighed and shook her head in exasperation.

"Don't try all that gushy romance stuff, it doesn't suit you" She said sounding tired. They fell silent.

"Can I still walk you home?" Sasuke asked and Sakura was mildly surprised that he had even asked instead of striding towards her house, half dragging her along with him. She nodded and a look of relief crossed Sasuke's face briefly before it was hidden by his usual impassive expression.

The walk home was silent but when they reached Sakura's doorstep they both hesitated, unsure how to proceed even though all Sakura wanted to do was to collapse on her bed and maybe cry a bit out of sheer frustration.

"Sakura, I-" Sasuke faltered once again. He almost wanted to apologise but he didn't know why and couldn't get the words out anyway. He sighed and instead took her wrist, tugged her towards him and enveloped her in a tight hug.

"I hope you know this doesn't make it all better" Sakura said trying to sound stern, but considering her voice was muffled by Sasuke's shirt and the warmth of his embrace made the words come out a lot softer than she intended to. She pulled back slightly and brushed her hand across Sasuke's cheek. "Do you want to come in for a little bit?" Sakura asked and Sasuke nodded slightly. Sakura gave him a weary smile but she unlocked the door and let him follow her into the living room all the same.

Sakura paused with her back to him, tidying some magazines and books into a pile as she weighed up her options. Sasuke had been stranger, more withdrawn than usual and although she had tried to give him some space she was tired, confused, and really wanted him to tell her something, anything, about what he was dealing with.

"Sasuke" She said softly "I don't really understand what's going on but it seems that whatever is bothering you is serious." Sakura paused wondering how to say what she wanted without getting Sasuke irate "I'm just concerned" She said finally.

"Do you think people have a purpose in life?" Sasuke asked. Sakura gave a half shrug of her shoulders.

"I guess so" She said thoughtfully "In the way that people always find something to aspire to"

"No, not like that. As in people are born to do something specifically"

"I really don't know. You're talking about fate and destiny and I can't believe in that" Sasuke nodded slightly but his expression clouded slightly as if he didn't like or believe Sakura's answer.

"Why do you even ask?" Sakura said and Sasuke's reply shocked her.

"You don't need me anymore" Sasuke stated. Sakura just stared at him.

"What?"

"You're happy. Every one of your friends has said that you're just the way you used to be before everything. You've got your life and friends, you don't need me."

"That doesn't mean I don't want you" She said he voice cracking slightly with emotion. "Besides you make it sound like you were put on this Earth with my happiness in mind which is completely ridiculous." Sakura stared at Sasuke, trying to figure out where his rather skewed logic had come from, how he didn't realise that she was happiest with him. But she couldn't bring herself to tell him that.

"I'm not real Sakura" Sasuke shouted, as the truth burst out of him from who-knows-where, he didn't even know why he said it when he had long decided not to tell Sakura about his origin. It was as if all of his frustration erupted from him in that one statement. The room fell completely silent and then there was a noise as Sakura tried to force herself to laugh.

"What is that some kind of joke?" She asked and Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, tugging at it slightly. There was no going back now.

"No" He said softly.

"Then what is it then?"

"It's true" Sakura stared at him, her eyes were wide and her face looked a little paler than normal and in that moment Sasuke wished he could take it all back, that he could forget everything and just hold her and maybe try and actually _live_ by her side.

"I don't understand" She said softly.

"Exactly one year ago today I found myself in one of the back roads in your neighbourhood" He said finally with a shrug "I don't quite know how it happened but I could feel something pulling at me, here" He raised his hand and placed on his chest, slightly to the left of the centre. "That day we ran into each other I was looking for the source of it and it led me to you" Sakura took a step back and almost fell back onto the sofa as her legs gave way. She stared up at Sasuke through her hands.

"I still don't get it." She muttered "Did you lose your memory or something."

"No"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Instinct, or something, I guess" Sasuke muttered.

"What?"

"I just know that before you a year ago I didn't exist" Sakura looked at him warily and Sasuke assumed she was running through her medical knowledge and training on how to deal with crazy people. And with her next reply he knew he was right in that assumption.

"Okay" Sakura said in a bright voice "Surely the important thing is that you're real now." Sasuke almost growled in annoyance. He seized Sakura's hand and placed it where his heart should have been.

"I'm not making this up" He said "Why would I?" Sakura hesitated as she heard how Sasuke seemed so torn apart by all this. "Now focus _Doctor_ _Haruno_" Sasuke said viciously "And here's your proof"

"What?"

"Tell me what my heart rate is" Sasuke said and it was only because he looked so deadly serious that Sakura didn't question what he was doing. Instead she shifted her hand so she could rest her palm properly across his heart.

"You know it would be easier to take your pulse from your wrist, or neck" Sakura said conversationally and Sasuke snorted. Sakura didn't respond. She moved her hand across Sasuke's chest frowning slightly before she trailed her hand up and after looking to Sasuke for permission tried to find the pulse in his neck. She withdrew her hand shakily and clenched both her hands into her lap.

"That's not possible" She said.

"And yet here I am" Sasuke muttered. Sakura looked up at him, his expression blank and now even his eyes had lost their usual warmth as he studied her reaction.

"How?"

"You made me"

"I didn't"

"Yes, you did" Sasuke said firmly.

"I think I'd remember something like that" Sakura almost shouted, her voice getting slightly shrill. "Oh God" She muttered "this can't be real"

"One night when you were, I don't know, especially lonely, or wistful, or even jealous of someone else's relationship those feelings created me. And I was made the way you wanted me." Sasuke said, and he was speaking with such conviction that Sakura almost believed him. After all, Ino had spent a great deal of time teasing Sakura about her Mr Perfect and then there was that conversation last year, maybe exactly a year ago.

"Tall, dark and handsome" Sakura muttered and Sasuke frowned at her "you know, it's like those fairy tale stories that girls dream about when their young. Getting swept off their feet by a tall, dark and handsome man." She looked away. "I said it once. It was a joke"

"A joke?" Sasuke snarled.

"Well I didn't expect something like this to happen did I?" Sakura shouted, her hands were still shaking slightly but she clenched them into fists.

No she didn't, Sasuke could acknowledge that much. She looked shocked and a little scared by this revelation and it almost seemed as if she believed him now. He wondered if she was disguised by him now she knew he wasn't a real human like she was. But now, with Sakura sitting hunched on her sofa she just looked so small and scared on her own, he wanted to reach out to her like he had done so many times before, but he couldn't move.

"Can you please leave?" Sakura asked sounding weary. Sasuke stood rigidly in front of her feeling strange, hot and cold, all over and instead of listening to her he knelt down in front of her.

"I never wanted to hurt you"

"Well you have" She said "not just now but lots of little times before when you would barely talk to me, when you disappeared for days on end without a word and then you'd appear and expect me to not say anything as if it never even happened. You've hurt me in hundreds of different little ways without realising it. You've changed."

"Maybe I'm finally me, whatever that means. Does it matter?"

"I don't know" Sakura said, finally glancing up at Sasuke's face. "I'm scared and nothing seems to make sense anymore"

"Sakura..." Sasuke started.

"I'm not sure if I even know you anymore" She said and Sasuke froze. That was it. After everything that had happened, all the uncertainty about himself, hearing it from Sakura was too much as she was the only person that had really kept him grounded and gave him something to return to.

"Does it matter?" Sasuke said keeping his voice deliberately flat and neutral.

"Sasuke you've changed so much. You're-" Sakura trailed off. Arrogant, mean, sometimes far too quiet, he expected her to drop everything when he came to see her, and after all this time he had never really trusted her. But he was telling her now, the traitorous through rose in the back of Sakura's mind, and maybe he was sometimes brash, sometimes rude, he was also sometimes kind, sometimes made her smile and his sudden appearances never ceased to brighten her day, and he always tried to awkwardly make her feel better, through small gestures or words that showed that he was thinking of her.

"Shit" She muttered instead "I don't know what to think anymore. I can't deal with this Sasuke." Sasuke felt the panic set in. He didn't know what he had been thinking when he had told, no, shouted the truth at her. He hadn't been thinking and that had been the problem. But still she had said a couple of weeks earlier that she _loved _him and, perhaps, Sasuke had hoped that that wouldn't change and in some dark corner of his mind a voice whispered that he had lost her. And Sasuke was scared for the first time in his life.

"Sakura" Sasuke tried again, this time he almost said please, but the damage was already done.

"You are not the centre of my world Sasuke" Sakura said. Sasuke gave her a rather twisted smile in response. Funny that, as she was the centre of his. But Sasuke responded the only way he knew how – defensively.

"Good, I never wanted to be" He said airily. Sakura scowled up at him.

"So this is the real you is it?" Sakura asked the man in front of her, she was unable to recognise anything much of the Sasuke she first met in him. "You said that you were completely yourself now so I should have no bearing in your life anymore. Why are you still here?" Sasuke hesitated as for the first time he found himself on the end of Sakura's vicious temper and he suddenly found himself feeling some sympathy towards Naruto who seemed to brave it every day with his rash comments.

"I should have known" Sakura muttered as her anger seemed to fade away replaced with a sort of weariness that Sasuke didn't like. "I can't have anything go right in my life can I?" She said bitterly and Sasuke's angry expression flickered for a moment and she thought she saw something like regret in his eyes.

"Sakura" He started but Sakura shook her head.

"Don't" She said abruptly "I don't care, I don't want to hear anything from you anymore, everyone I trust just leaves me, so just go" She said tears welling up in her eyes and Sasuke stared at her suddenly remembering, too late, what she had confided in him a few weeks ago about Tanzo. Sasuke obediently turned and left Sakura to her thoughts and as the door closed behind him he heard Sakura begin to cry properly, no longer having to suppress her emotions.

Sasuke sighed deeply, he knew that despite everything he still cared for Sakura and whether that was the remnants of him being created by her he didn't know but he did regret what he did, he had never wanted to harm the person he cared for the most. Seeing as there was nothing he could do for Sakura himself he walked the streets for a few moments until he came across a payphone he inserted some coins and carefully dialled a number from memory waiting as he could hear it ringing several times.

"This is Ino Yamanaka speaking can I help?" A voice came through the phone as Ino answered and Sasuke paused slightly "hello?" Ino asked again "if this is a prank call then I swear I'll-" She began and then Sasuke managed to find his voice.

"Sakura's upset" He said simply and hung up before she could ask anymore although after some thought she'd probably be able to guess that it was him.


	15. Chapter 15

One whole year.

It was strange to think that that amount of time had passed, it hadn't seemed that long to Sakura at all since Sasuke had tumbled into her life, but that was what Sasuke had said and she supposed that he should know. He must have been keeping count, and although it had been almost flattering when he had taken her to that restaurant proclaiming that it had nearly been a year to the day they had met it was strange to think that now as he must have been counting up the days of his life, his existence even, as he claimed to not be truly alive.

One year. That meant that her life had gone a full circle in that amount of time. It was exactly one year ago that she had woken up, hung over, late for work and nursing a broken heart. And now it was the same, except, luckily she had the day off so she didn't have to explain why she had been crying and that now she was crying over Sasuke instead. Sasuke who had changed so much. Sasuke who, by all accounts, she had _invented_. Sakura felt hysterical just thinking about it.

Although she had somewhat taken Sasuke at his word the night before, in the cold light of day she just couldn't accept what Sasuke had said as real it was completely ridiculous, impossible even, that Sakura herself could have willed Sasuke into being whether consciously or not. And yet the memory of his lack of heartbeat under her palm forced Sakura to recognise that something wasn't right.

Sakura longed to phone Sasuke and demand he speak to her, that he explain, that he tell her that it was just some trick, a joke even, and would she like to do something tonight with him. But even as she hovered by the phone she knew that Sasuke wouldn't make something like that up. At least the Sasuke she thought she knew wouldn't. Besides Ino had come over late that night, and her timing had been perfect as she had been forced to let herself in and had found Sakura crying on the floor, refusing to get up. Before she had left, after a promise to see her again the next day with Tenten and Hinata, Ino had taped a large note to her phone telling her not to ring Sasuke or she would regret it. It was all written in capital letters and the "DO NOT" was underlined several times. Sakura supposed it was Ino's was of showing she was serious.

Still she had hours to kill before Ino and the others would be able to come over and she wondered what to do with her time, she refused to mope especially as she was, technically, the one who broke it off.

The phone rang suddenly and Sakura jumped and lunged for it eagerly, maybe it was Sasuke who would apologise and joke with her like he used to. She paused and counted to three to not seem too keen before picking up the handset.

"Hello? She said.

"Sakura!" She slumped backwards into a chair.

"Oh it's you Naruto" She muttered.

"Hey!" He sounded affronted "Why do you sound disappointed, you should be trilled I'm taking the time out of my busy schedule to call you at work." He paused "all joking aside, I spoke to Hinata this morning" He said.

"And?" Sakura said trying to sound carefree but she suddenly found it hard to speak as a lump formed in her throat.

"She told me-about Sasuke" Naruto said and there was a longer pause on the line and all Naruto could hear was Sakura taking a few deep breaths to compose herself.

"Him?" She said lightly "Oh yes, we've, um, we parted ways." She said almost choking on the words.

"Sakura..." Naruto said again but this time his voice was softer.

"Don't, just don't be all sympathetic Naruto, I can't stand that and you know it." She said harshly.

"What happened?" Naruto asked and his voice was so full of concern and hurt that Sakura couldn't bear it.

"We-" She broke off as a sob escaped her.

"It's okay Sakura" Naruto said soothingly "There's no rush." She drew her knees up to her face, resting her forehead on them as she cried, clutching the phone like a life line.

"It was so-" _strange,_ that was the first word that came to mind but she didn't want to explain how it was strange "He was- I couldn't-" Naruto sat patiently making comforting noises as he waited for Sakura to become more coherent, but at the mention of Sasuke he wondered what the bastard had done despite his warnings to upset Sakura so much, it sounded like he'd gone and broken her heart.

"I broke up with him" Sakura said breathlessly as she tried to compose herself and with that Naruto snapped back to reality.

"What?" He said without thinking "you mean he didn't break up with you?" There was silence on the other end of the phone as Naruto's brain caught up with him and he realise what he had just said, and who to.  
"No" Sakura hiccupped. "I had to in the end, he didn't want me to, but I did." Naruto stared at his phone in confusion.  
"Why?" He asked, "Can't you tell me what happened?"  
"Not really" She said softly.  
"But it's me Sakura, come on, you can tell me anything" He said persuasively and then felt terrible when Sakura started crying again, he could hear her muffled sobs down the phone.

"I know" She said and Naruto resisted the urge to sigh as he didn't want to upset Sakura further.

"So why is this different?" He asked.

"Because it's not my story to tell" Sakura said eventually.

"Alright" Naruto said evenly "but can you tell me what changed? I thought, I don't know, that you two were the real thing, that you'd be together forever" He said wildly "I'm sorry Sakura but it's true" He added hastily.

"He changed, or maybe I should say we changed" Sakura said "and that maybe something's _are_ too good to be true."

"You can't believe that" Naruto said "you know it isn't true"

"I don't know Naruto" Sakura whispered and she could feel the tears prickling in the corners of her eyes again. Naruto paused, he wondered what to say next without seeming like he was offering Sakura too much concern.

"Do you want me to sneak out and come see you, I can say I'm having an extra long lunch break" He suggested. Sakura smiled slightly.

"No that's okay" She said "Ino, Tenten and Hinata are coming over in a few hours and I think I'd like to be on my own for a bit before that."

"Alright" Naruto said softly "but I'm just a phone call away if you need me"

"I know" Sakura said and they said their goodbyes leaving Sakura to her solitude but as she knew that her friends would be coming to distract her later she, strangely enough, welcomed the silence.

Sakura sat huddled on the sofa missing Sasuke. He had become such a constant in her life that it seemed unreal that he had just walked out of it, even if she had been the one that told him to, or rather had shouted at him until he left. For now she wanted to wallow in self-pity as she could acknowledge the fact that Sasuke would never have left her if it wasn't for her. So she sat left with only her memories for company and she felt that she deserved it.

Sasuke was annoyed. He liked being angry at Sakura, she had created him the way she wanted and then cast him aside when he didn't fit the mould anymore. He tried to ignore all the tender moments and refused to contemplate Sakura's tear stained expression as she realised, with some horror, what she had done. He had to give her some credit she wasn't disgusted by him but she had banished him from her life and it had hurt him like a physical pain.

Sasuke liked the anger as it stopped him dwelling on how hurt he was by it all. He had struggled for a year with the knowledge of his creation and his intimate knowledge of Sakura's life and, yes, he had _liked_ her all the more for getting to actually know her and not just the pieces of information that he had in his head. And when he had, finally, made some sense of his life, of who he was, Sakura had turned away from him.

He was surprised he was still allowed to exist without her but whatever the reason, Sasuke was glad of the extra days. Although he could no longer feel Sakura he counted this as a good thing, no longer having her presence in the back of his mind he couldn't know how he had made her feel. He didn't want to know what damage he had done. He wanted to run and keep running until he started to fade away as he had before but to keep running until he was no longer there. However something held him back, some sort of self preservation, that made him want to exist a little bit longer and hold onto what he had for a little while longer, maybe to be able to see Sakura one more time.

He was generally avoided at work, emitting an aura of hostility around him that people seemed to sense that talking to Sasuke would be like trying to bate a tiger. When people were forced to speak to him he responded with only a few curt sentences, trying to work out all his frustration on the keyboard and all the time Shikamaru watched him thoughtfully and Sasuke guessed that Ino or someone else had told him the bare facts of what had happened. He wondered what Sakura had told Ino, he hoped Ino had rang or come to see Sakura so she wasn't alone.

It was useless; every thought however strange eventually wound its way back in Sasuke's mind back to Sakura. It was just as bad as it was before, only then he had the excuse of her presence in the back of his mind, and it annoyed him how much he thought of her.

It took a while for Sasuke to notice that Shikamaru had walked over to his desk and was now looking down at him with a curious expression on his face.

"What?" Sasuke snapped. This went ignored.

"I heard you and Sakura broke up" He said conversationally and Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him, despite Shikamaru's obvious prodding of an open wound it was unusual for the other man to take an interest in such things, he usually avoided these kinds of complications as much as possible.

"And?"

"And you've successfully managed to annoy Ino, Tenten, Naruto and everyone else with that" Sasuke opened his mouth furiously "Whether it was you who ended the relationship or not" Shikamaru continued calmly "they're all bound to take Sakura's side and find all sorts of faults in you after that." Sasuke stayed resolutely silent but as Shikamaru seemed content to sit on the edge of Sasuke's desk, ignoring his stony look, Sasuke was forced to break the silence himself.

"What's your point, you didn't come over here for a chat" He said and Shikamaru smiled faintly.

"No" He said "I just thought it was strange, as I was with Ino last night, that you of all people called her to tell her that Sakura was upset when you were the one who allegedly hurt her." Sasuke shifted uncomfortably.

"So?" He said eventually.

"It's odd that's all" Shikamaru said evenly. "I wondered why you'd even do it."

"Just because we're no longer going out doesn't mean I no longer care about Sakura." Sasuke muttered and Shikamaru's expression softened slightly.

"Alright" He said and ambled off towards his desk.

"Wait!" Sasuke called after him "is that it?" Shikamaru glanced back at him and Shikamaru raised his hand up in an almost wave as she continued walking.

"That's it" He said, leaving Sasuke confused as he turned back to work.

The doorbell rang and Sakura blinked rapidly to clear her mind before she stood to welcome, whoever it was that had arrived at her house first. She plastered a cheerful smile on her face as she opened the door to Hinata who gave Sakura a tentative smile of her own.

"Hey" She said softly, shifting the tin she was carrying to one hand as she gave Sakura a one armed hug. "I brought us some cake" She said as she drew back.

"Ooh, can I see?" Sakura asked peering at the tin with new interest. Hinata rolled her eyes slightly as she opened the tin as Sakura bounced excitedly to see what Hinata had cooked up for them this time. She was astounded to see a rich looking chocolate cake that was covered in sweets and even seemed to have sweets sandwiched between the two layers so it looked like a dream birthday cake for any chocoholic.

"Tada" Hinata said with a shy smile.

"Oh wow Hinata, that looks incredible" Sakura said and Hinata mumbled a thanks. There was a sudden third on the door and Sakura and Hinata turned to see another shape through the glass n the door. There was another thud and they heard Ino's voice.

"I can see you're there!" She called and Sakura gave Hinata an exasperated smile as she moved to open the door.

"Sakura" Ino said cheerfully "I have pizza!" She declared waving the box about "oops" She giggled as they heard the pizza slide about in the box "it'll be fine" She declared.

"We hope so" Sakura said dryly "If not there's always Hinata's cake."

"Ooh you made a cake?" Ino asked, setting the takeaway box aside to give Sakura a tight hug.

"Ino I can't breathe" Sakura managed to choke out and Ino chucked and squeezed her even more.

"Breathing is over rated" She said and Hinata shook her head slightly, taking the pizza box with the cake through to the kitchen.

"But I quite like doing it all the same" Sakura said. Ino drew back and examined Sakura's face instead.

"How _are _you?" She asked tenderly and Sakura felt the overwhelming urge to cry again, she smiled weakly at her instead.

"I think I might be okay" Sakura said instead and Ino looked sceptical. "I think I'll be okay in time" Sakura amended and Ino gave her another tight hug before dragging her off to the kitchen.

"I want to see Hinata's cake" She said gleefully.

"That pizza smells good" Hinata said, peering in the box.

"I know, I've been wanting some all the time while I was walking down here" Ino said. "Do you think Tenten will notice if we eat some of it without her?"

"That depends on whether you can convince her that you deliberately bought a pizza with slices missing from it" Hinata said with a grin and Sakura sat back, leaning on the door frame as she watched her two friends. She had decided to stop wallowing in self pity over Sasuke, yes she had cried the past few hours at losing him, but she was going to make a conscious effort to move forward with her life. After all she wasn't sure if she technically had him in the first place, especially as he seemed to have been forced to seek out her company, she no longer felt sure of how he had felt about her in the year they had been friends then lovers. Although he had seemed to be pleased to have her company she couldn't help but wonder how much of it was forced.

Previously she had felt secure in her feeling for him and in Sasuke's feelings for her but now she felt plagued with insecurities. He was created to be everything she ever wanted, or so he said, and he had never said that he loved her after all. But now she felt grateful to be surrounded by her friends who would take her mind off everything for a few hours.

There was another sound at the door and Sakura found Tenten grinning up at her when she opened it.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" She asked , giving Sakura a brief hug.

"Alright I guess" Sakura said and Tenten smiled at her.

"Don't worry, it'll all work out in the end" She said soothingly and then she gave Sakura a wicked grin "and until that time there's always alcohol to drown your sorrows, I have some bottles of wine to start you off tonight" She added.

"Great" Sakura said sarcastically "apparently my friends think that all I need to feel better is lots of food and wine"

"There's food?" Tenten asked and Sakura chuckled "Ino and Hinata brought stuff it's in the kitchen, if you want to have a look."

Sakura paused in the hallway to collect her thoughts as she watched Tenten amble into the kitchen, she smiled slightly when she heard Tenten exclaim over the cake. She was about to join them when Ino dashed out holding the pizza box and some plates and headed into the living room.

"We thought we'd just camp out in here if you don't mind" She said and it seemed that even if Sakura minded she didn't have a choice as Hinata soon followed with her cake and Tenten with the wine and some glasses.

"Alright" Sakura muttered. She joined the others in the living room and found Ino was taking a huge bite out of a slice of pizza.

"I have been waiting for this moment for a long time" Ino said around her mouthful of pizza, Hinata wrinkled her nose slightly.

"Really Ino do you have to?" She asked taking a small bite of her own slice.

"Well not everyone can have dainty manners like you do" Ino grumbled taking another huge bite. Tenten put some pizza on a plate and passed it to Sakura before taking some for herself.

"Because we need to eat some before Ino's had it all" She said in an overly loud whisper.

"Hey" Ino protested "that's not fair." And Tenten took an even bigger bite out of her pizza than Ino had.

"Mmm" She said and Ino scowled at her and retaliated by shoving the rest of the pizza slice in her mouth and Hinata giggled when Ino had trouble chewing it.

"What happened to the girl who was trying a different diet every month?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe she discovered real food" Tenten said dryly.

"And it was so good after that soup diet that I never looked back" Ino said helping herself to more pizza. Sakura grinned momentarily before taking a bite out of her own piece.

"It's funny" She said slowly, seeing as neither of her friends had even attempted to broach the subject they were all gathered for yet, "that it was just over a year ago you were all here consoling me over Tanzo." There was a brief silence as Ino, Hinata and Tenten all froze momentarily and then Tenten glanced around the room briefly.

"I think there was more alcohol involved then" She said lightly and Ino gave her a weak smile.

"There's always the off licence down the road" She said and Hinata reached over and patted Sakura on the knee.

"It's different this time though isn't it" She said hesitantly "with...Sasuke." Tenten and Ino paused as they studied Sakura's expression, she sighed and lowered her, now empty, plate.

"Yeah, it is" Sakura murmured.

"So, do you want to tell us what happened?" Tenten said awkwardly and Sakura groaned leaning back against the sofa. Ino leant over and opened a bottle of wine pouring it out into the glasses she shoved the one with the most in it at Sakura.

"Here" She said "get that down you"

"Oh thanks" Sakura said sarcastically "Is this supposed to make everything better?"

"No silly," Ino said "we've got Hinata's chocolate cake to do that." Sakura gave her a half hearted smile and took a gulp of her wine.

"So what _did_ happen?" Ino asked.

"Things changed" Sakura said "Or I suppose he did more than anything else." The others exchanged strange looks.

"What do you mean?" Tenten asked.

"People change" Sakura said shrugging slightly.

"But..?" Hinata said gently.

"He changed a lot and it was like he was a completely different person" She complained "and I don't know, I think it was more that I didn't know how to fit in to his life anymore than anything else. He wasn't as sweet as he was before but that was fine he was still kind and made time for me and sometimes when he tried to do nice stuff and ended up being really awkward about it, it made me laugh" Sakura drew up her legs and rested her chin on her knees. "I liked the way he paid attention to the little things, like if I'd mention in passing a film I liked or wanted to see he'd rent it for me and we'd watch it together even if it ended up being some girlie stuff he'd hate."

The others all exchanged worried looks as they realised that Sakura was entering dangerous waters as she reminisced about all the good times she had with Sasuke.

"But there must have been some other stuff, right?" Tenten asked "maybe you should tell us about those instead, I mean you don't break up with someone for being nice to you in an unconventional way" She suggested and Sakura sighed. Tenten looked over at Ino who shrugged helplessly.

Hinata scooted closer to Sakura and rested her hand on Sakura's back to sooth her.

"What actually happened to cause you to end it with him then?" She asked and Sakura sighed.

"It was complicated, there were all sorts of things that happened and then we had an argument and that was it, the last straw, I shouted at him to get out and leave me alone." Sakura said gloomily. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, I was so frustrated he would never tell me anything and then everything just exploded out of me, I was just so angry and hurt and at the time I really didn't want to see his face, but I do now. I miss Sasuke. And I don't know if I've done the right thing."

"Do you wish things had turned out differently?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

"Wishful thinking is what got me into trouble in the first place" Sakura said bitterly and none of them knew how to respond to that strange statement. Instead Hinata slid over slightly to give Sakura and awkward hug and Ino practically jumped on top of them.

"Group hug" She declared "Come on Tenten" She said and Tenten rolled her eyes and drained the remaining wine in her glass before getting up to join then. They stayed like that for a few moments.

"Well this is all very touching" Sakura said "but this is the second time I've almost been hugged into suffocation tonight." They drew back and Ino laughed sheepishly.

"Well, who wants some cake" Hinata said and Tenten cheered slightly.

"That sounds excellent" She said and they all laughed and even Sakura felt slightly cheered.

Sasuke came home to find that Naruto was sitting on the wall outside his house and as he approached Naruto stood up sharply and stared at Sasuke, the look in Naruto's eyes making him feel vaguely uncomfortable.

"Can we talk" Naruto said.

"If you must" Sasuke muttered.

"Well then, can I come in?" Naruto said looking determined.

"I'd rather you didn't but that didn't seem to stop you last time" Sasuke said dryly as he unlocked the door and Naruto, ignoring the jibe, followed him in.

Naruto looked around the neat living room, picking up odd things and putting them down in different places, much to Sasuke's annoyance. He was unusually silent.

"Why do I get the feeling it's not just Sakura I hurt?" Sasuke said and Naruto frowned slightly.

"We all liked you for Sakura" He said "And although Shikamaru said that he didn't particularly care for you and that he thought something was a little off he still said that Sakura was better with you"

"I never asked for any of your approval" Sasuke said, standing rigidly in the centre of the room.

"No I don't supposed you did" Naruto said finally looking up at him. "I never told you I asked Hinata out, a few weeks after we spoke" He paused awkwardly "I would never have been able to do that if it wasn't for you" Sasuke snorted.

"Someone else would have told you" He said. Naruto shook his head slightly and ignored Sasuke's comment.

"I genuinely liked you" Naruto said to himself and then he glared at Sasuke "So how is it that when I call Sakura she's in tears, completely heartbroken and yet she's the one that broke up with you"

"Why don't you ask her" Sasuke said.

"Because she won't tell me"

"And what makes you think I will?"

"I'm just trying to understand what happened" Naruto shouted "because you don't look to happy about losing Sakura and she _loved_ you, she never told me but it was obvious, and Sakura wouldn't do something like that lightly so unless she found out that you were some mass murderer I can't see why she'd do that." Suddenly all the colour drained out of Naruto's face "Oh God, is that it, are you going to kill me as I've guessed your secret, it would explain why Shikamaru thinks you came out of nowhere if it's an assumed name."

"You're an idiot" Sasuke said cutting through Naruto's ramblings "that's not it." Although he never realised Shikamaru had said something so close to the truth, he always knew the other man was dangerously clever.

"Then what did you do to her?"

"Nothing" Sasuke exclaimed "I just told her the truth"

"What truth?" Naruto demanded moving towards Sasuke as she glared at him furiously "_what truth?"_ Sasuke looked away.

"It doesn't matter" He said sourly.

"Yes it does, because whatever it was you told her it broke her heart" Naruto said and he grabbed Sasuke by the front of his clothes and slammed him into the wall. "What did you do?" He snarled and Sasuke glared back at him, refusing to be intimidated.

"Things were more complicated between us than you will ever know" He said coldly. And Naruto twisted his fist further against Sasuke's shirt.

"Why won't either of you two explain anything" Naruto said furiously and Sasuke was briefly surprised that Sakura hadn't appeared to have confided in any of her friends either but this feeling was quickly overruled with the overall annoyance he felt at Naruto.

"You don't need to know anything" Sasuke said.

"Tell me what happened?" Naruto said, ignoring him and trying to shove Sasuke further into the wall.

"No" Sasuke said firmly "now get off me." He placed one hand over the one Naruto was using to hold him down and used the other the ram Naruto backwards causing the other man to grunt slightly at the force.

"You bastard" Naruto said quietly and he lunged forward to try and punch Sasuke in the face. Sasuke managed to move away in time and elbowed Naruto in the gut. Naruto backed off enough for Sasuke to feel secure enough to move away from the wall which, it seemed, was what Naruto was waiting for as he moved forward again and hit Sasuke on his jaw. Sasuke flinched and as he tried to gather his thoughts again Naruto took the opportunity to punch him again.

Sasuke felt his anger ignite again and he kicked out at Naruto as he tried to move in again. Sasuke brought his arm up to hit Naruto again but the other man managed to move away in time and caught Sasuke's fist. Instead Sasuke raised his knee to ram in into Naruto's stomach, Naruto caught his knee with his other hand and Sasuke smirked slightly and used his other free hand to punch Naruto square in the face.

Naruto stumbled backwards and snarled slightly before he ran forward, bending slightly, to use his shoulder to propel Sasuke back into the wall, much harder this time.

"What is wrong with you?" Naruto demanded punching Sasuke in the stomach to try and wind him.

"That's nothing to do with you" Sasuke gasped and he moved to he was able to slam Naruto in the wall, pinning him there as Sasuke held one arm across Naruto's throat while he used the other to keep Naruto in place. "You don't know anything about me" Sasuke snarled as Naruto struggled to get out of his grip. "Because I know everything there is to know about Sakura, I used to be able to feel her in my head all the time!"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto yelled back and he managed to shove Sasuke's arm away from him. They both came to a standstill, panting slightly and Sasuke ran a hand through his hair.

"I hated her for it" Sasuke shouted back "that I could just look at her or be near her and know every little thought or feeling that crossed her mind."

"So what?" Naruto said desperately "You're not making any sense, isn't it a good thing? You should feel lucky that you've gotten to know Sakura so well in a single year its more than the rest of us have ever come even people like Ino who have known her more than half her life haven't come that close."

"You don't understand its everything, all the time" Sasuke said.

"This is crazy" Naruto said giving Sasuke another glare for good measure "but I can say this, you never deserved Sakura if that's how you feel." Naruto was tense and he had expected another angry response from Sasuke but he was surprised to see him go rigid instead and then it looked as if all of the fight went out of him.

"No" Sasuke said softly "you're probably right." To say Naruto was dumbfounded would be an understatement.

"What?" He exclaimed "you're supposed to be fighting for her."

"Now who's not making any sense" Sasuke snapped.

"I thought you loved her" Naruto yelled.

"I don't know" Sasuke shouted back "I don't know anything right now!"

"You got that right" Naruto said darkly. He stepped forward glowering at Sasuke as he clenched his fists and Sasuke felt a moment of concern that Naruto was going to bring this to blows again.

"What do you want from me?" Sasuke said wearily "You start talking about Hinata and then Sakura but you seem to expect something from me." Naruto huffed, struggling with his words.

"I don't know, I guess, it's sort of like you've disappointed me" Naruto said finally "You just crash landed into Sakura and everyone else's life and made things so much better for a while, you made Sakura so much happier and then coincidently Shikamaru and Ino start going out and I would never have gotten the nerve to ask out Hinata without talking to you first, and it was good, it was like we were all equally happy and to me it felt like it was because of you." Sasuke shifted uncomfortably and Naruto's blue eyes bored into him.

"I'm nothing special" He said "You said it yourself, coincidence."

"I don't think so" Naruto said firmly "I think it had to be you."

"Don't be stupid" Sasuke said sharply "I don't believe in fate." He dimly wondered if he was just echoing Sakura's words from earlier as fate or some kind of divine providence was interfering with his existence from day one.

"Maybe not fate" Naruto said thoughtfully "but something else. I'm not saying it was meant to be just that you've done so much and you've come to mean so much to more people that Sakura. But I still won't forgive you I spoke to Sakura earlier and you really hurt her."

"It's better off this way in the long run" Sasuke said and Naruto snorted.

"What gives you the right to say that, Sakura loves you so much! You say you didn't like knowing everything about her, being able to read her that easily which is stupid and that's a good thing I might add, I'd love to know what goes though Hinata's head she either looks really calm about things or is really flustered and babbles stuff and I have no idea what's going on with her either way. You knew each other for a year so of course you knew each other really well." He paused to glower at Sasuke "and you call _me_ stupid."

Sasuke said nothing as he considered Naruto's words. He wondered if it was because he had known Sakura so well that he could read her every thought on her face, he had always presumed it was because of the bond they shared between them but maybe it was due to a more mundane reason than he had first thought. If that was true, and Sasuke didn't want to think about that, but if it was then he had definitely screwed up.

He missed Sakura.

Naruto didn't say anything else to him, and Sasuke was actually grateful that he didn't, he wouldn't have put it past the idiot to gloat for a bit longer about having being, maybe, right. Instead Naruto just gave him a steady look, as if he knew what Sasuke was thinking, and left, letting himself out the front door.

It was better off this way, Sasuke found himself thinking, eventually Sakura would find someone real and he would, what, move on? Disappear? Sasuke shook his head slightly and instead focused his thoughts on Sakura. She had loved him, he knew that, she had told him, but she'd probably hate him now anyway, some part of Sasuke hoped that was true to make things easier but an even larger part hoped that she'd be able to keep some fond thoughts of him. It was pathetic, Sasuke thought, resting his head in his hands, everything was messed up and he now knew it was all his fault.

Sakura was laughing at Hinata's story of meeting Naruto's parents, although she had seen them briefly before it was the first time they had spoken properly and Hinata insisted that there was the added problem of being introduced as his girlfriend as opposed to just his friend that seemed to make them on their guard for her potential hurting their blue eyed baby boy. This was strange enough as everyone who knew Hinata would say she wouldn't hurt a fly but Sakura could imaging Minato and Kushina being overly protective of Naruto, especially as she had been told there had been a lot of complications surrounding his birth.

Still, Hinata had apparently owed it to him after he had met her, terrifying, father who had, by all accounts, spent most of the evening glaring at Naruto which was made even worse when he was sharpening the large knife needed to carve the roast dinner. Naruto claimed he had seen his life flash before his eyes.

With Hinata meeting Naruto's parents, there had apparently been a lot of shouting as Kushina burnt whatever she had been planning to serve for dinner and had blamed it all on the rather innocent Minato. Luckily tings had ended well as Hinata had helped save their dinner and left with them all singing her praises. But her anecdotes of Kushina shouting at a cowering Minato, where Hinata lost, if not all them most, of her respect for the usually debonair looking man.

The phone rang and Sakura slipped out after dodging Ino, who tried to envelop her in a hug to stop her from leaving.

"Naruto" Sakura said when she recognised who was ringing her "we were just talking about you."

"Do I want to know what was said?" He asked and Sakura smiled softly.

"Hinata was telling us when she went round to your parents for dinner" She said and there was a short pause.

"Ah" Naruto said finally "at least that didn't scare her off I guess."

"Don't worry, she's still as enamoured with you as ever, God knows why though."

"Sakura, that's mean." Naruto said sadly and rubbed his stomach, wincing slightly as that seemed to be where he had taken the brunt of Sasuke's attack.

"What did you ring me for?" Sakura asked and she heard Naruto sigh.

"You're going to hate me for this" He said and that instantly roused Sakura's suspicions.

"Why? What did you do?" She demanded.

"I kind of went to see Sasuke" He said quickly, and there was silence which made him cringe, he wondered what Sakura was thinking and if, in hindsight, he shouldn't have just blurted it out like that. "I wanted to know what happened and you wouldn't tell me, and if it makes you feel better I'm none the wiser. He just managed to confuse me, I have no idea what the hell either of you are thinking."

"You shouldn't have done that" Sakura said softly and Naruto cringed at the underlying threat in her voice.

"If it makes you feel better Sasuke's already hit me more than once so you don't have to do that" He said hastily.

"He hit you?" Sakura exclaimed and Naruto suddenly felt a surge of guilt at unwittingly directing Sakura's anger towards Sasuke.

"I hit him first?" He suggested weakly.

"You hit him?" Sakura said, "Why? What on earth was going through _your _head?"

"He hurt you Sakura, I was angry" Naruto said and Sakura sighed. "I shouldn't have interfered but I was worried about you, I thought he'd at least tell me something or give me a good reason for what happened."

"And he didn't?" Sakura asked apprehensively.

"No" Naruto said glumly "so whatever weird secret you two are holding onto is safe from me." He paused "I wish you'd just tell me."

"You know I can't" Sakura said, she paused slightly and then she couldn't help herself any longer. "Did he say anything about me?" She said.

"Yeah, some stuff" Naruto said strangely.

"He hates me now doesn't he?" Sakura said miserably and Naruto shot his phone a bewildered look wondering what on earth had happened to make both of them convinced that it was hopeless with the other.

"No" Naruto said and he paused unsure whether he should say anything more but he felt that if anything Sakura deserved to know some of what had happened between them "If anything I think Sasuke's in love with you, somehow even if he doesn't want to admit it to himself" He said finally.

"Right" Sakura said and Naruto was even more confused to hear that she seemed upset by the news "Thank you Naruto" She added.

"No problem" Naruto said slowly "I'll let you get back to Hinata and that lot then"

"Alright then bye" Sakura said overly brightly.

"Give Hinata my love" Naruto said.

"You can do that yourself later" Sakura said and Naruto grinned at the annoyance in her voice before she put the phone down on him.

Sakura paused in the hall way, the laughter in the living room had died down since she was on the phone and they seemed to be strangely subdued with her gone. She thought about what Naruto had said, that Sasuke might be in love with her, if she had been told that earlier she would have been elated but now she wondered if he resented her for it, or if his feelings for her were forced or another part of his being constructed for her. She felt tears prickling in the corners of her eyes and took a few deep breaths to try and regain control of her emotions before heading back to see the others.

"Poor Sakura" Sakura overheard Tenten say when she was about to return and she hesitated in the hall. "I wonder what really happened."

"I wonder why she won't tell us anything" Ino muttered sounding slightly hurt that Sakura couldn't confide in them.

"Maybe it's too painful for her" Hinata said "I mean no one really knows what goes on in other people's relationships, it's probably best not to pry."

"Yeah" Ino agreed "but now of course we need to try and get Sakura back on her feet" Sakura made to re-enter the room and then she heard Tenten say something that made her freeze.

"He was good for her though" She said suddenly and there was silence and Sakura guessed that the other two were just as shocked as she was. "I mean" Tenten continued "he turned her back into the old Sakura, she was more carefree with him especially towards the end."

"Yeah but after upsetting Sakura like that I wonder why he-" Ino started but Tenten hushed her slightly and Sakura was left wondering what they had been talking about. Still, she took a deep breath and walked in giving them all a smile again.

"Who was that?" Ino asked.

"Oh, just Naruto" Sakura said, "he was just checking up on me" She sat down as Hinata started talking about her co-worker, Shino, who had worked there four months and she was convinced that she had only heard him speak once.

Sakura smiled and leaned forward joining in with their conversation but at the back of the mind she wondered what Ino was going to say, why Naruto had even bothered to visit Sasuke and what it was that they all knew but wouldn't tell her. She wished that Tenten hadn't hushed Ino, she desperately wanted to know but she knew they wouldn't tell her if she asked. She wanted to know what it was that Sasuke had done and why they all seemed to find it so strange but she didn't think they'd tell her unless she asked outright and part of her was afraid to know the answer.


	16. Chapter 16

Days crawled past at an agonisingly slow rate after Sakura and Sasuke's explosive break up. And then it was over a month since Sakura had kicked Sasuke out of her house and told him she never wanted to see him again. Since that day Sakura had gotten used to telling all of her friends that she was 'coping' since she broke up with Sasuke. It wasn't a lie per se, she had gotten used to missing him and still suffered the odd disappointment when she saw someone waiting outside the hospital as her heart leapt when for a brief moment she thought it might be him and that the past few weeks hadn't happened. She wasn't happy and she wasn't better but she was still coping with it. Coping with the odd dark, but truthful thought, that it was all her fault.

There were so many 'what ifs' and 'if onlys' running through her head. She wanted to take back everything that had happened the night she shouted at him to leave. If only she hadn't pushed Sasuke so hard to tell her what was wrong and that he hadn't told her the truth and then she wouldn't be left wondering if everything about their relationship as friends and lovers was fake. Never once did she wish she had never brought Sasuke to life though, whatever had happened she was still glad to have met and spent time with him.

Sasuke had been like a sudden breath of fresh air in her life for a while, making her days seem brighter and cheering her up after Tanzo cheated on her. And it had been a welcome change Sakura had liked being swept away by Sasuke, she had allowed herself to relax and let go of some of the rigid control she had previously in her life.

Since her break up with Sasuke her friends had all come round to visit her regularly and they had all commented, to each other, that Sakura's house now resembled a bomb site with papers and magazines everywhere and whereas before Sakura had coped with Tanzo's departure by obsessively cleaning everything with Sasuke gone she seemed to just loose heart and Ino had just said that it was strange as no one could quite figure out why they had broken up in the first place, but whatever it was it had knocked Sakura out of her insane organisational habits although no one was sure if this was a good or a bad thing.

Still Sakura was often chivvied out the house by her friends as talking to people would apparently be good for her so she was constantly surrounded by people either from people rallying round her at work, as she had an open offer to go drinking with Tsunade anytime outside of work, or from having her friends constantly visiting her or dragging her out to places, whether to their own houses or to restaurants or pubs to try and perk her up. Even more galling was Kiba, back in the hospital's clinic for a check up to see if his antibiotics had worked, who had become familiar enough with Sakura with his frequent hospital trips to tease her and said he'd go on a date with her if she wanted. And he'd only laughed uproariously when Sakura said she wasn't that desperate yet.

More days stretched past and Sakura had, sort of, met someone new. Someone who was kind and thoughtful. Someone who went out of his way to be courteous and didn't just spontaneously appear and inconsiderately drag Sakura out to places in the middle of winter. Someone who seemed to really like Sakura out of their own free will and, unfortunately, someone who seemed really boring after Sasuke.

Sakura knew she was screwed, she had received tentative congratulations from all her friends for moving on and finding someone new so quickly, but moving on was not the word Sakura would use herself. Although Asano was sweet and attentive to all her possible needs and he was nice but that was the most Sakura could say for him. Sakura realised that she was comparing his every action to Sasuke who, despite being accused of being joined at the hip when they were together, did not text Sakura every waking moment to see if she was alright and then when she was working and away from her phone rang her to try an prompt a response, which was what she discovered Asano did do. It had started off being slightly sweet and now it just annoyed her so she had told him she was working a full 12 hour shift at the hospital to fill in for someone and for him not to call or text her when she was actually doing a considerable shorter shift and finishing at 4.

Sakura had felt mildly guilty when she went to work that morning but after he had text her that morning wishing her a good day about three times and the memories of the day before where he had called, text and emailed her all day as he knew it was her day off she was looking forward to some peace and quiet. She briefly wondered if she had turned into a bitch but when she had asked Ino about it she had said that Sakura could be acting much worse and at the most she could be called "a little bit of a bitch" and when she had consulted Naruto he just asked her what the hell she was doing with the guy when he just annoyed her. Neither response was particularly comforting.

And she felt even worse as Asano was a good person who genuinely liked her which was more than she could say about Sasuke who could be rude, abrupt and adorable all rolled into one. No, not adorable, Sakura viciously bent the plastic fork she was using for lunch in half until it snapped, she refused to think of Sasuke in any fond terms even if he did look cute when he slept, or laughed. The prongs on the fork were snapped off in turn as Tsunade sat across the table looking worriedly at Sakura while she, herself, wondered if breaking up with someone could give them psychopathic tendencies as it would explain a lot about her behaviour recently. She began stabbing her salad with a knife instead.

"Sakura" Tsunade interrupted her, covering Sakura's hand in her own to prevent her from breaking the knife as well. "Call me crazy if you want but get the feeling that something's bothering you."

"What?" Sakura said and looked down at her destroyed lunch. She sighed and pushed it away, resting her head in her ands instead. "My life is a complete mess." She muttered and Tsunade tried not to smile.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked instead.

"Things are just complicated at the moment." Sakura said after a pause and Tsunade raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Is this about your new man that you're using to get over Sasuke with?" She said and Sakura stared at her, her mouth hanging open slightly. "Hey, I heard gossip too" Tsunade said thinking that was what Sakura was staring at her for. In fact Sakura was surprised to hear her situation put so bluntly especially as lots of other people tip-toed around the subject of Sasuke with her.

"I'm not using him." Sakura protested weakly and Tsunade gave her a sceptical look over her cup of coffee.

"Sure you're not" She said "You're just dating someone you're not that keen on as you get over someone you were."

"Fuck" Sakura muttered "it sounds bad however you put it." Tsunade smiled softly at Sakura.

"I'm not going to tell you how to live your life Sakura but after Dan died I tried going out with other people and it just didn't work."

"But you've got Jiraiya now" Sakura said and the older woman nodded slightly.

"It took me years to even consider him as a potential partner as I spent so long crashing through different relationships as I compared them to Dan too much and he was everything to me. After a while you get to look at past relationships through a sort of rosy haze as if everything was perfect and don't get me wrong I still love Dan so much but what we had was real and it wasn't perfect we argued, but I kind of loved arguing with him as well. Maybe you should take some time out to think for a while if you can." She suggested tentatively.

"I love Sasuke" Sakura whispered "so much but I'm scared. HHH e said something and I didn't know if anything we had shared was real anymore and I panicked or something. I don't know what I was thinking but suddenly I was shouting at him to get out and that I never wanted to see him again."

"That probably wasn't the best way to deal with things." Tsunade said dryly.

"He didn't want to break up with me, it's my fault so I have to live with the consequences." Sakura continued and Tsunade reached forward to smack Sakura on the back of her head. Sakura started and looked back at Tsunade who had returned to her coffee.

"Don't be such a martyr." She said "As long as you're both here there's still a chance of reconciliation, I don't want to give you false hopes but anything's better than that annoying self pitying act you have going on there. So you don't like your new guy, break up with him, tell him it's too early or something and maybe it is. And if you see Sasuke again then take it as fate or whatever and if you can make things better between you two, although if it's you then you might just end up getting angry at him again." Tsunade looked vaguely amused at Sakura's despondent expression. "Don't worry, if he really loves you then he won't give up on you so easily." She added "Jiraiya never did and I rebuffed him countless times."

"But what if he doesn't" Sakura almost wailed "He never said either way."

"Did you ever doubt it when you were together?" Tsunade asked kindly "When I was with Dan we never really went into the mushy stuff in our relationship, none or those candles, rose petals and all that clichéd crap, but he made sure I knew he loved me through other ways, just by being with me and doing stuff that meant a lot to the two of us. So tell me if you think back on everything do you think it's worth at least trying to fix things with Sasuke to get him back?" Sakura bowed her head.

"I don't know." She said finally "It's not that I doubt my feeling for him or his for me it's just that I know he's going to say something that'll annoy me and I'll end up shouting stupid things at him again just to try and get a rise from him." Tsunade chuckled at Sakura's irritated expression.

"Ah, young love." She said dryly and Sakura snorted.

"I think it's just that we're both short tempered." She muttered and Tsunade grinned and then glanced up at the clock in the cafeteria.

"Damn, well that's my lunch break over." She said draining her coffee. "Good luck Sakura do tell me how it all goes."

"Hopefully it can't get any worse." Sakura said.

"Don't say that." Tsunade said grimly. "At the moment you're completely in love with the person you are _not_ dating and at this rate the guy you are dating will declare his undying love for you and propose or something." Tsunade said winking at Sakura "Sod's Law, you see."

"Thanks for that." Sakura muttered. "It's nice to know you think my life can go even further down the toilet."

"Things have to get worse before they can get better." Tsunade said standing up and rapping Sakura on the head with her knuckles. "I hope everything works out with your short-tempered, frustrating Mr Uchiha and wish you success and many more arguments in the future. Being nice is over rated I try not to give way to Jiraiya in a fight if I can help it it might make him think I actually like him after all." She added and left leaving Sakura to think that it might not be the best idea to try and base her relationship off of Tsunade and Jiraiya's it was probably unhealthy.

Sakura smiled grimly. Although everything Tsunade had said made sense and as much as she hoped, or wanted, to at least apologise to Sasuke these things were easier said than done. Sakura was loathe to go to Sasuke's house and beg for forgiveness but at the same time she wondered if it was easier if she'd just swallow her pride and seek Sasuke out even though she was scared that he hated her now for being forced into her life and forced to love her for her only to shout at him and reject him.

It was a mess and it wasn't even possible for Sakura to explain the full complexities behind her break up with Sasuke but if she ignored everything about Sasuke's origin it just came down to what Tsunade had said earlier, whether she thought it was worth fighting to get Sasuke back to try and get a future with him. If she was stubborn enough to cut him completely out of her life for the past few weeks, ignoring any temptation to seek him out or even go any were near his house or office, then she could be stubborn enough to pursue him until she could at least get him to admit what he really felt about her, to keep pushing at him until she was sure of their future together or even the lack of one.

Either way, Sakura wanted to know and it was because of this new found determination that she found herself changing her route home from work instead of ploughing through town to go home directly, ignoring anything around her, she found herself heading to the park she had been to several times with Sasuke.

She walked slowly round the park, watching a few mothers supervising their children run around on the swings and climbing frame. It was surprisingly warm and Sakura found herself enjoying the park even as a few of the trees were turning into an array of reds and oranges for the coming winter. She wandered aimlessly until she came to the spot that she had a picnic with Sasuke, in the cold where they had to run off to the tea shop before it closed for a hot drink, she remembered giggling most of the way there and Sasuke half smiling at her in amusement. That part of their relationship had never changed, Sakura thought with a sigh, she was often laughing fitfully at something with Sasuke looking on with an air of confused amusement as if he couldn't quite understand why she found things so funny.

Sakura turned to move on, feeling slightly weighed down by the memories, and stopped suddenly in the middle of the park, earning a few frowns and dirty looks from the people behind her who were forced to move around her so abruptly, but Sakura didn't pay them any attention. Instead she looked at the figure on the nearby bench who was leaning forward slightly, resting his arms on his knees, she could only see part of their face as their back was mostly facing Sakura but it was unmistakably Sasuke. She felt like she could recognise him anywhere.

She walked slowly up to him until she was standing alongside him and she was sure Sasuke had seen her.

"Hello" Sakura said softly and she was annoyed to hear that she sounded nervous. Sasuke just nodded slightly to acknowledge her and Sakura felt her temper flare slightly so she had to try and appease herself by thinking that at least he had responded and not just ignored her. She took a few more steps closer, hesitating some more. "How are you?" She asked and Sasuke gave her a sharp glance and she felt herself blushing as their eyes briefly met.

"Alright." He said shortly and then just before the silence between them grew too awkward he spoke again "How about you?"

"Could be worse" Sakura said "but then it could be better too. Can I sit down, is that alright?" She added and Sasuke nodded slightly and Sakura sat down on the opposite end of the bench feeling extremely conscious of the space between them.

Sakura fidgeted slightly next to Sasuke glancing at his profile every few seconds.

"What?" Sasuke said suddenly "That's getting annoying."

"I'm so sorry" She said. "I mean it Sasuke, I really am." Sasuke gave her a sharp look and studied her expression thoughtfully before he looked away to watch other people walking past.

"I know." He said softly. Sasuke could acknowledge that Sakura was upset at the thought of hurting him she was a good person, probably a better one than he was, which was rather galling.

"It's just" Sakura continued "It was too much, all at once, and I-"

"Couldn't stay with me any more once you knew I wasn't real." Sasuke said dryly.

"No" Sakura looked indignant "I needed some time to think about it all, I panicked alright, it was a lot to take in and you saying that I made you up is not something people hear every day."

"I didn't ask for it to happen." Sasuke said and Sakura bowed her head slightly.

"I'm really, really sorry." Sakura said again and Sasuke snorted.

"I thought I told you before to stop needlessly apologising for things." He muttered and Sakura smiled slightly.

"I thought you'd hate me though." She said.

"Would you rather I did?" Sasuke asked.

"Maybe, wouldn't you prefer to hate me." Sakura said "instead of being stuck, I don't know-"

"Not hating you?" Sasuke said with a half smile "I don't mind it so much."

"Don't be nice." Sakura said "you never were before" Sasuke raised his eyebrows slightly "not this nice anyway." Sakura continued.

"Whatever you say." Sasuke said sitting back. They fell into another uncomfortable silence but as Sasuke didn't seem too put out by her presence, not that she'd easily be able to tell by his usual stoic expression, and Sakura was reluctant to leave herself so she stayed sitting what felt like a long way away from him.

"Do you wish things had been different?" Sakura asked after a while "I don't just mean us I mean everything."

"I wish Naruto would stop turning up outside my house and insisting about talking to me about what happened and how I feel about it." Sasuke said and glanced sideways at Sakura "If you could keep your friend under control I'd appreciate it."

"He's not a dog" Sakura said "It's not like I can tell him to heel, but it would explain why I haven't seen Naruto myself for a while."

"He's very persistent." Sasuke said dryly.

"He's also one of my closest friends" Sakura said frowning slightly "I know Naruto can be a little full on but don't be mean, he does it because he's concerned about you."

"I don't need him to be." Sasuke said.

"No you don't need anyone apparently."

"I thought we already established that you were the one that ended it." Sakura turned round to glare at Sasuke properly at that comment.

"Oh please, I think we both know you had a hand in it, how did you expect me to react to that news anyway?" She spat "You couldn't have softened the blow somehow?"

"So now it's my fault?" Sasuke said sarcastically.

"I didn't mean it like that and you know it" Sakura said, sounding exasperated.

"I didn't ask for this to happen" Sasuke snapped "you think I want to be stuck with this existence?"

"So everything's my fault?" Sakura was incredulous "I never wanted to fall in love with someone who would later throw it all back in my face and tell me they're, what, a piece of my imagination, it's not every girl's dream Sasuke!"

"Well I'm sorry if I don't live up to your dream man anymore, maybe the next one will be better and everything will be just perfect." Sasuke said sarcastically.

"Maybe he will." Sakura said her temper flaring. "Maybe he'll be sweet and thoughtful and everything you turned out not to be."

"Then I'll do my best to be happy for you when you've found him." Sasuke said sourly.

"Perhaps I already have." Sakura snapped and she could feel her frustration as Sasuke bubbling up again and it was just like she had warned Tsunade that a stupid comment had fired up both their tempers and neither of them would back down from the argument, however petty in was.

Sasuke said nothing but he looked at her furiously. Sakura hesitated momentarily and then decided that she was going to say this no matter what. Whatever it cost the remains of her relationship with Sasuke. Although, if she was honest with herself, she kind of hoped Sasuke would show some jealously towards her new relationship but despite him glaring at her Sasuke looked more or less disinterested by the news.

"Perhaps I've met someone already who's kind and wonderful and above all he's really human." She said angrily trying to ignore the choked up feeling in her throat. Sasuke looked shocked, actually shocked, and Sakura realised that she had let her temper get the better of her. "Sasuke-" she breathed, suddenly filed with remorse.

"Fine" Sasuke said shortly, standing up "I get it. You never wanted me, this was all some freak accident that you're denying responsibility for."

"I never said that." Sakura protested "stop putting words in my mouth." Sasuke snorted.

"Yeah right, you want me out of your life" He said.

"No, yes, maybe, I don't know." Sakura said.

"Or maybe you don't like the fact that you've spent so much time with someone who wasn't even human, does that disgust you?" Sasuke said rounding on Sakura.

"Stop saying things like that" Sakura cried "It's not right. It's not like you at all."

"You don't know me, I thought we'd already established that." Sasuke snarled and Sakura shook her head slightly.

"I hate you." She said tearfully.

"So tell me you wish I'd never been born" Sasuke shouted "You were the one who brought me into this life why don't you just take it away." Sakura flinched "you don't have to worry about feeling guilty I'm not human, not really and you won't remember anything it'll be like I never even existed."

"No." Sakura said softly and this time Sasuke took a step back.

"What do you mean 'no'?" He asked.

"I said no." Sakura said angrily. "I don't want that, I don't want you to disappear, I don't want to forget all the time we spent together" Sasuke stared at her "I really loved you, you know, and I suppose we both know why, it was made to happen, it wasn't fate or destiny or even pure dumb luck that we met was it. I don't even know how you're here, I just wanted to find happiness someday" Sakura paused as she wiped a few tears off her face "and I want you to be happy someday" she whispered and Sasuke felt a heavy feeling come over him.

He stepped away from Sakura in horror as something more than guilt settled over him. _Thump. _ It was only now, as she looked back at him with watery eyes before turning to walk away from him, that he wondered how he could find happiness without her. _Thump._ She was still an idiot, who had no idea what she could do with his life, what effect she had on him.

_Thump thump._

Sasuke raised a hand to his chest and for the first time felt something there. A weight in his chest and a sudden, complex rush of feelings and the realisation that somewhere, and he knew exactly when, he had gone terribly wrong.

_Thump thump._

And that he would always love Sakura because she was as much made for him as he was made for her and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Shit" Sasuke muttered "Shit, shit, shit."

But now it was too late. Sakura had gone. He had completely screwed everything up until it was completely beyond repair.


	17. Chapter 17

Sakura hadn't seen Sasuke since their run in at the park several weeks ago and although she was kept permanently busy by her job, her friends and even by meeting Sano, Sakura still had time to miss him. She wished things had turned out differently, that she could have actually found a way to control her temper for once and not said anything about Sano at the park, or said that she hated Sasuke. She was glad she said that she loved him again whether he believed her or not.

Although Sakura was comfortable in her new relationship with Sano it didn't quite have the same rush as it did being with Sasuke. Sakura could admit, though, that half, no most, of the problem was that she kept comparing his every move to what Sasuke might do in that situation. She was still smitten with him and that was only the start of her problems.

Ino and all her friends were cheering her on for apparently moving on so swiftly and finding someone who was as 'amazing' as Sano was. All of them with the exception of Naruto who always went really quiet and seemed to sulk at any mention of her new boyfriend and Sakura could only assume from what Sasuke had said about Naruto visiting him that Naruto hoped that they would somehow get back together.

Although Sakura had to tell him that after everything it was impossible, even despite her own feelings she didn't think she could ever convince Sasuke to give her another chance after what she had said, to him it would look like she had created him only to cast him aside later because of what he was, something he had no control over.

However much of a mess Sakura felt her life was she did feel at ease with Sano. They had been on several dates and despite her still feeling confused about Sasuke and constantly comparing her dates with Sano to her time with Sasuke.

It wasn't all bad even if Sano didn't stir up the same feelings in her as Sasuke did, to his credit Sano was more talkative and friendly than Sasuke had been recently. She felt more relaxed in his presence than she did with Sasuke who turned her into a jumble of emotions. At first he had been perfect which Sakura had found intimidating for a while until his kindness won her over and then she grew to love him further despite his obvious flaws and imperfections, his frequent bouts of silence and surliness only served to make her appreciate it more when he smiled and surprised her with his unexpected warmth.

Sasuke was quite an awkward person and now she knew what had happened to him she could easily understand the changes he went through to become the person he was now. A person she still cared about even if he didn't care about her anymore as she hadn't seen him since their meeting in the park.

What Sakura never realised or considered was that Sasuke was just a stubborn as she was and while she was busy rationalising Sasuke's actions and refusing to take the first step and call or even see Sasuke, he was doing the same. Both being too stubborn to make a move to talk to the other.

Sasuke was still plagued by nightly visits from Naruto who was still trying to pry answers from him about his relationship with Sakura disintegrating suddenly. Naruto was still hopelessly optimistic and still held on to his belief that Sakura and Sasuke belonged together and refused to be persuaded otherwise.

Tonight, Sakura was looking forward to another date with Sano but this time he had invited her to a party inside the Senju hotel and he had kindly invited her friends so she wouldn't feel too put out as the hotel was renowned for its splendour and it was also where she would be meeting his business associates and old family friends. Sakura was glad she'd have Ino, Tenten and Hinata to look forward to seeing with their respective partners after going through, what she expected to be, an excruciating dinner. It wasn't that she expected Sano's friends to be the horrible kind of people you associated with the rich upper class Sakura assumed they'd be nice on the basis that they were Sano's friends, she just felt, at times, out of her league dating him.

It wasn't anything to do with Sano himself, he always went out of his way to make sure she felt comfortable and that she was alright with every place they went to arranging it with her first which restaurant or cafe they were going to visit. Unlike Sasuke, who carted her around the city taking her to unexpected places which she had, to be fair to him, always enjoyed, although that may have only been because he knew how to appeal to her.

Sakura shook her head vigorously, there would be no more thinking about Sasuke tonight. She had spent weeks trawling the shops to find the perfect dress, one that made her look more sophisticated than she felt she was, and she was ready to attend a dinner where each course would probably cost more than her monthly salary.

Well, she was as ready as she would ever be. Even if she was trespassing on a world full of people who owned a house that sounded at least twice the size of the one she grew up in and had enough funds for a housekeeper. At least Sasuke never made her feel intimidated, well until recently when he was looming angrily over her, something Sakura felt she probably deserved.

Before she could sink further into her forbidden, gloomy Sasuke-related thoughts the phone rang and she was both happy and felt slightly flustered to see Sano as the caller.

"Hey." Sakura said brightly, as if she hadn't been thinking about her ex-boyfriend only seconds before.

"How are you feeling?" Sano asked and Sakura smiled slightly.

"Alright I guess, just a bit nervous." She said.

"Don't be, you'll be wonderful."

"I wish I had your confidence," Sakura joked.

"It's just dinner, they're nothing to be scared of whatever you think, just try to relax. I know that might be hard right now but I assure you everything will be fine. I'll be right beside you the whole time." Sano said softly and Sakura knew she should have felt reassured but instead she was faced with a hollow feeling that it was the wrong person who would be next to her. She quickly shoved that thought aside.

"Thank you", She said softly, "that means a lot." And it did. Especially as the person she longed to stand beside her was probably someone she would never see again. And in time Sakura hoped she would put Sasuke out of her mind. And then one day he would be a distant, if obscure, memory and they could all move on with their lives, or non-lives as the case may be.

"So I'll see you tonight then?" He asked .

"Of course, there was no question of that you've just made me feel slightly more at ease about the whole thing." Sakura said truthfully, "thank you, it was really kind of you, there was no need to call me just for that."

"Well, I wanted to anyway." Sano said, "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," Sakura said softly.

Sakura sighed and smiled to herself. She didn't know what she was thinking earlier Sasuke was her past and she would slowly take her time to put him behind her starting with tonight where she would be wearing her new expensive dress and a pair of heels borrowed from Ino hopefully looking as stunning as Ino claimed she would.

After spending far too long getting ready, several hours in order to get everything perfect, Sakura felt as if Ino was right. She was happy with her appearance, or as happy as she would ever be, and, best of all, she was running on time. Hopefully tonight everything would fall into place.

Sakura still felt nervous but she was also excited it was definitely a step towards something good. Something real.

So it was, not without some apprehension, that Sakura found herself standing on the steps of the Senju hotel, looking up at the tall building. All glass and metal on the outside but boasting one of the most comfortable stays in Konoha, the richest hotel in the area, she stood waiting for Sano for him to escort her inside.

"You," Sano said beside Sakura, making her jump, "are early."

"Yeah, I know," Sakura said sheepishly.

"You look amazing." He said, "I'm so glad you're here." Sakura blushed slightly as he took her arm and guided her intro the hotel, stopping to open the doors for her own the way, which was a sweet gesture that Sakura found tiresome as the night wore on. Something that made Sakura wonder what was wrong with her.

Dinner was as much of a lavish affair as Sakura expected with several courses each with a different drink that everyone else seemed to think was completely normal but for Sakura it felt like she had slipped into a completely different world.

A world where it was completely normal to drink a different kind of wine with each course which put her old home cooking nights with her friends to shame as they had just eaten and drank whatever they felt like. Which something she would never tell her neighbour who had spent the past hour telling her of the importance of matching the right wine with the right meal and even gave her a few pointers of what to eat with fish courses. Tips that Sakura promptly forgot a few moments later. Instead she just took a large gulp of wine (screw etiquette) and wondered how long this damned dinner was going to last until she could tell Ino, Tenten and Hinata all about it, at least she knew they'd probably get a giggle out of it. Although for all she knew Hinata might be used to things like this and she pitied Naruto if that were true.

Outside the hotel the street was lit up with the glow of lights from the hotel itself, casting deep shadows across the other side of the road. There were large windows across the ground floor letting people look into the hotel reception, at the wall length fish tank and into part of the restaurant where a young woman with pink hair was smiling and laughing at her companions. She looked amazing in a simple black dress with a thick red belt around her and red shoes and showed no sign of her unease on her face at all. If it wasn't for the way she was fiddling with the wine glass she was holding

She was approached by five new people who she enthusiastically greeted, hugging the blond woman with long hair who was almost dragging her male companion along with her. He had given the other woman a quick wave before disappearing with the other man who approached them to go to the bar and she warmly said her hello's to the two dark haired women left.

Sasuke watched all this from outside, driven by curiosity more than anything else, as Naruto had told him that Sakura was coming here tonight with her new boyfriend. The one who was apparently so perfect. He watched Sakura chat happily to Ino, Hinata and Tenten and sighed. She looked like she had put the whole horrible business of their relationship behind her. Sasuke brought his hand up to rest above his heart which was still beating steadily and in an unfamiliar manner in his chest. He wondered if Sakura knew what she had done, what it had meant.

"Well this is something," Sasuke turned at the voice and scowled at Naruto.

"What do you want?" Sasuke said flatly, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Did you come to see Sakura?" Naruto asked and Sasuke ignored him. "Have you seen her?" Naruto continued regardless, craning his neck to get a good look in through the windows. "She looks pretty tonight. Of course I have to say that Hinata's prettier but Sakura still looks good."

"If you're here just to make stupid comments then go away," Sasuke muttered.

"It's not stupid." Naruto protested ,"anyway I was invited here, with my _date."_

"Then why are you out here with me? Go bother Hinata instead."

"Yeash, you're so cold." Naruto whined, "No wonder Sakura thought you went off her."

"What did you say?" Sasuke hissed taking a step towards Naruto. Naruto automatically took a step back without thinking and then instantly regretted it when Sasuke smirked at him.

"She doesn't think you liked her all that much," Naruto said hastily. "Something about how you never said 'I love you' and she said something weird, like you never had any cause to love her anyway." Sasuke snorted. "What did she mean by that?" Naruto asked.

"She's stupid."

"Hey! No she isn't."

"About some things she is."

Naruto smiled slightly and turned his attention to where Hinata was standing with the others. He watched as Sakura was approached briefly by, he guessed, Sano as they wrapped their arm around her shoulders. Naruto was delighted to see Sasuke frown slightly when he noticed it.

"Why did you come here?" Naruto asked, "please, tell me honestly." Sasuke glanced at Naruto and seemed to be carefully considering his reply making Naruto hopeful that he was going to answer him seriously.

"To see if Sakura was alright." Sasuke said finally and Naruto stared at him.

"What is that all?" He asked and Sasuke shrugged.

"So?"

"I told you about this so you could, I don't know, burst in there and win her back!" Naruto exclaimed and Sasuke shot him a sour look.

"This isn't a film and I thought that sort of thing usually happened at weddings anyway." He said and Naruto looked at him exasperated.

"Don't be pedantic about things, are you really going to let her just move on and forget you?"

"She looks happy. It's better than I could have hoped for considering everything. This is probably all for the best." Sasuke said dully.

"So what, her happiness is your happiness?" Naruto said. "That's just ridiculous and you are not that self-sacrificing."

"You don't know me."

"I know you're in love with one of my best friends." Naruto said stubbornly, "but you're right I don't know you. I don't know why after everything you're just giving up and letting her get away from you. The Sasuke I thought I knew, the person I _liked_ wasn't like that. He wasn't a coward and I definitely didn't think he would just give up for no reason."

"Why do you feel the need to get involved?" Sasuke snapped, "For the past few weeks that's all I've heard from you."

"Are you kidding?" Naruto asked incredulously. "You two are meant to be together, that's why, you can see it every time you look at each other, why can neither of you see that?" Naruto stared helplessly at Sasuke. "Won't you do something?"

"That's none of your business," Sasuke said and Naruto shook his head in disgust.

"You're going to really lose her," he said heading into the party.

Sasuke sighed and looked up at the hall where Sakura was engaged in a serious conversation with her friends. Naruto had been right, she looked beautiful. She was warm, funny, caring and he had been punishing her for a mistake she had no control over.

Sasuke could go as far as he wanted now, he could take a train, a bus, a car to the other side of the country and not fade away. He was just like everyone else but he kept coming back to her. He was always drawn back to her,

Naruto had also been right about Sasuke. He still loved Sakura. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. After all that what was really galling was realising that Naruto's opinion actually mattered to him. Everything else he already knew. He was weak, and was scared of losing Sakura for real when there was so much more at stake. When losing Sakura again would mean losing her due to his own faults and not something he could attribute to Sakura or some wider power that originally created him. But somehow Naruto knowing he was afraid made Sasuke all the more determined to prove Naruto wrong.

Sakura stared at Ino, she didn't know what to say or think after what Ino had just told her.

"Why would he do this?" She asked feeling numb. Ino, Tenten and Hinata exchanged glances as Sakura tried to understand why Sasuke had phoned Ino after Sakura had broken up with him.

"Because he cares about you." Hinata said softly.

"Well, maybe he did then but he doesn't anymore." Sakura said firmly.

"Sakura don't say that."

"He can't," Sakura said miserably. "Not after I said such horrible things."

"Sakura, we don't mean to bother you with this," Ino said carefully. "You seem happy with Sano anyway, it's just-" She broke off awkwardly.

"We wanted you to know everything before you completely gave up on Sasuke. If you're putting everything with Sasuke behind you that's great, or if you want to go and chase after him we'll support you either way. Whatever makes you happiest." Tenten said and Sakura nodded thoughtfully.

"Right." She said and then saw Sano approaching her.

"Hey Sakura," he said and Ino, Hinata and Tenten watched him lead Sakura away from them.

"She needs to stop being stubborn," Ino muttered and Tenten nodded.

"Naruto says Sasuke's outside." Hinata said mildly looking at her phone and Ino and Tenten peered over her shoulder to read the message themselves.

"They're probably as stubborn as each other," Tenten said dryly.

"A match made in heaven there." Ino added and then she jumped slightly as Shikamaru came up behind her and slipped his arm round her waist.

"Hey sweetheart." Ino said and Tenten and Hinata exchanged glances at the gooey expression on her face.

"Have you finished meddling in Sakura's life?" He asked and Ino tried to look offended.

"I would never do something like that." She muttered, turning her back on him Shikamaru just rolled his eyes and tugged her back next to him. Ino smirked slightly.

"We only meddle because we care," Tenten said cheerfully.

"And do you think Sakura'll thank you for it?" Shikamaru asked.

"She doesn't have to." Ino said turning round to squish Shikamaru's face. "It's like every time you buy something big, like a car, you have to be know all the facts before you make a decision. We just want Sakura to be able to make the right decision."

"If that's your attitude to love then I'm worried." Shikamaru said.

"Don't worry," Ino said. "I'm not with you because I think you're a good investment."

"Oh, thanks." Shikamaru said sarcastically.

Tenten grinned at Hinata and then she saw Naruto hurrying in, rushing to take off his coat and managing to get tangled up in the sleeves as he did so.

"Looks like your date finally found the way in." Tenten said pointing him out as Naruto grinned and waved at Hinata. Hinata smiled and gave a small wave back. "I'm going to go and find Neji." She added, "I have to get him back for just giving me a brief hello and then buggering off to the bar. Enjoy your super adorable relationship."

"Hey!" Hinata protested and Naruto came up beside her and enveloped her in a huge hug while giving her a kiss on the cheek as well.

"Oh, hi Tenten," Naruto added and Tenten rolled her eyes.

"I'll let you get back to your love bubble." She said dryly and turned to chase Neji up at the bar.

"Love bubble." Hinata muttered as Naruto wrapped his arms around her, she smiled softly at him. "Hey, did you talk to Sasuke again?"

"Yeah, but I don't think he was listening to me." Naruto said morosely and Hinata gave him a swift kiss on the lips.

"Maybe he did but just didn't want to admit you were right," Hinata said soothingly.

"Because I am pretty damn fantastic." Naruto said with a grin and Hinata laughed.

"Whatever you say," Hinata said, kissing him again.

"That little idiot needs to stay away from my cousin." Neji said glaring over at Hinata and Naruto.

"At least he's paying attention to his girlfriend, unlike some." Tenten said sweetly. Neji looked vaguely guilty.

Sakura smiled at her friends as they stood paired off with their respective boyfriends. She was standing out by the open windows that lead onto the hotels courtyard at the back. She had managed to slip away from Sano who was deep in conversation with his friends. She told herself she wasn't avoiding him, that she just wanted some time to think about what Ino had told her. That she was going to spend time doing what she had promised herself she wouldn't do and think about Sasuke, and what he really meant to her.

"Sakura." She jumped as Sasuke materialised beside her as if her thoughts had summoned him. Which in a way, she supposed, she had a long time ago.

"Sasuke what are you doing here?" She said and he shifted uncomfortable under her stare, he looked uncharacteristically uneasy.

"Sakura I wanted to talk to you one last time." He said.

"Oh yeah?" Sakura asked, "what about?" She refused to give him any ground in their conversation.

"Naruto," He said and Sakura stared at him.

"What?" That was definitely the last thing she expected Sasuke to say.

"He's been coming round almost every day now to talk about stuff. I have no idea how he manages to have time to see Hinata even though he does keep telling me about what they do together which is something I really don't want to know." Sakura stared at Sasuke some more, she had no idea where he was going with this, what had possessed him to say these things.

"I mean- it's just-" Sasuke broke off and covered the lower part of his face with his hand, hiding his expression from her. But from what Sakura could see he looked slightly embarrassed. And Sakura felt herself thawing towards him slightly.

"You came here to talk to me about Naruto?" She said.

"He's just been saying some things," Sasuke said, his voice slightly muffled by his hand. "That I wanted to clear up with you."

"If he has told you about the time when I punched him can I say that he completely exaggerates that story." Sakura said and Sasuke straightened up and put his hands in his pockets, giving her a slightly puzzled look.

"That's the first I've heard of you hitting him." He said dryly and it was Sakura's turn to be embarrassed.

"Sorry. Ignore that what was it you were going to say?" She asked, trying to pull off a nonchalant air. Sasuke gave her a knowing smirk which made Sakura flush.

"He said that you never thought that I _cared_ for you," Sasuke said finally.

"That's true in a way, I did tell Naruto that." Sakura said and Sasuke watched her carefully and Sakura guessed he was waiting for her to elaborate. "I never doubted it when we were actually together but after you said that, what, I _created_ you I thought that maybe it had all been forced on your end. That you never wanted to like me you just had to, like it was built into to you or something." Sasuke scowled at her.

"Funny how we both came to the same conclusion." He said and Sakura looked away from him, trying to ignore the sudden heart-wrenching pain she felt when he said that. "I thought it was all artificial for a while as well."

"What?" Sakura asked weakly.

"Give me another chance," Sasuke said firmly and Sakura opened her mouth to protest. "I mean it. I'll call you, I'll take you out to dinner or to the cinema, I'll even do what Naruto does if you want and text you practically every five minutes." Sakura found herself smiling slightly at that.

"Don't talk to me too much," She quipped, "I might get sick of you." It was a just a joke, as Sakura slipped into the easy way of teasing each other that their relationship used to be based on but this time her words were loaded with heavy implication. "I'm sorry." She said automatically but this time Sasuke didn't reprimand her.

"Don't be." He said, "It's probably my fault anyway."

"How could it be." Sakura said bitterly, "you never asked for this, you never asked for me either."

"Sakura-" Sasuke started angrily.

"I mean look at you." She continued, ignoring him, "you could have anyone you wanted. You're good looking enough and you're funny and kind when you're not angry about something, which is the more common of the two I'll admit or maybe that's just with me."

"Sakura stop!" Sasuke said grabbing her wrists and pushing her backwards slightly so her back was against the cold glass. He looked furious.

"You still have no idea." Sasuke hissed at her and out of the corner of her eye Sakura saw Ino frowning as if she was wondering whether or not to intervene. "You never listen do you?"

"I don't want you to hurt me again." Sakura said and Sasuke was startled to see tears in her eyes. "It hurt too much the first time and God knows what it did to you."

"Scared?" Sasuke said with a dark look, "things have changed between us now, you've changed them." He added forcefully.

"I never did anything," Sakura protested fiercely. "I put you out of my mind like you wanted; I am here on a date thank you, all I wanted was for you to find happiness." Even after this declaration Sasuke still looked furious.

"That's all?" He said sarcastically and Sakura flinched at the sudden edge his voice had taken on. "Have you forgotten that I'm made from your every want and desire."

"I thought that was over now anyway. We've broken up you can do whatever you want now." Sakura countered, although it sounded childish even to her ears. She was refusing to back down and let Sasuke win even if he seemed to be the most stubborn man alive at times. "Surely whatever fucked up connection that was between us has been severed." Sasuke laughed at Sakura's uncharacteristic swearing.

"_You_ have changed as well." He said with an arrogant smirk playing across his face.

"And so have you. If you were created to be my perfect man then there's something really wrong. I wanted someone who would be kind to me, to look out for me, to support me emotionally and not financially. My ideal man is not an arrogant, self centred jerk." Sasuke snorted.

"And after I've let you down have you found your Perfect Man?" He spat out the last two words distastefully and Sakura flinched.

"Maybe." Sakura said looking up to meet his eyes pushing her chin up to show she could be just as stubborn as he was. Sasuke turned slightly to glance at Sano and Sakura followed his gaze. Ah, she had wondered why Sano hadn't tried to stop Sasuke from advancing on her but then she saw that Naruto had prevented him from getting to her, she didn't know if she should be grateful, right now he seemed to be the lesser of two evils she'd prefer his attentiveness right now rather than having to face Sasuke's temper which seemed so close to the surface these days.

Sakura looked at Sano who was watching her with genuine concern, someone who had done nothing but be kind to her, even supportive when he had found out that she had just gotten out of a serious relationship. Then she glanced at Sasuke who was frowning at her with a look of serious determination and she wondered what he was trying to achieve by coming here. She was happy dating Sano but she remembered what Ino had said about Sasuke phoning her after he and Sakura had broken up and whether it _did_ mean that he had genuinely cared about her or if he had simply done it out of some bizarre sense of duty towards her.

"So has your new man been exactly as you wished." Sasuke said advancing on her and Sakura began to feel cornered. Although she stubbornly refused to move and be intimidated by him as Sasuke moved even closer she felt as if she wouldn't be able to move even if she wanted too.

Her breath began to quicken as Sasuke stopped about a foot away from her as he continued in a low voice. "Does he complement your hair and clothes and does he do whatever he can to help you, is he kind and gentle and oh-so-lovely towards you. He's must be pretty rich he to have afforded all this so I guess you've done well, he must be a step up from me." Sasuke said gesturing to the expensive hotel.

"It's not like that." Sakura whispered feeling her anger slowly crumble away beneath her taking with it all her defences against Sasuke.

"Isn't it?" Sasuke countered and he shifted even closer to her, leaning down so his mouth was next to her ear a self-satisfied smile playing across his lips.

"I know you Sakura. He won't satisfy you." He said softly and he smirked when he heard Sakura's shallow gasp of indignation. "He's not right for you, I've spent months being connected to you I know your likes and dislikes, I know you more intimately than anyone else." At this point Sakura began praying that this wasn't true. "I know that at times you feel lonely which is how you created me."

"I didn't mean to." Sakura protested but it sounded weak even to her ears, although she reflected there was nothing wrong with wanting to share her life with somebody.

"Exactly" Sasuke's eyes shone with some strange emotion that Sakura began to wonder if it was malice and that he was about to unleash some more emotional blows on her, berating her for her stupidity. "You're a hard working, independent idiot."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest but he silenced her by firmly placing his hand over her mouth and Sakura wondered how he'd react if she bit him it was almost worth risking his short temper just to see what he would do "You're a stubborn, intelligent, selfless women and he doesn't deserve you." He moved his hand from her mouth and began brushing away her tears that had begun to form as she felt strangely touched by his words.

"He's not right for you." He whispered and Sakura half believing him nodded, only to regret it as a satisfied smile spread across Sasuke's face.

"I hate you." Sakura said suddenly and was immediately satisfied to see a look of slight surprise cross Sasuke's face. "You just want to ruin my chance of happiness don't you? I'm sorry I somehow brought you into existence I didn't even think it was possible to create someone by my own thoughts but I've let you go now why are you still here?"

Sasuke studied her for a moment before sighing and running his fingers though his hair. A movement that, despite everything, Sakura found herself wanting to do the same as she could recall the soft texture of his hair as it slipped though her fingers. Her mouth was dry as she found herself wanting to will him out of existence and at the same time wanting to beg him to stay.

"You wanted me to find happiness." Sasuke said shrugging slightly and he reached for her hand grasping it tightly and pulling it upwards to rest on the centre of his chest. "And to do that you made me real, only a real live human can find happiness for themselves or for other people." Sakura stared at him wide eyed as she felt a strong heartbeat thumping beneath her finger.

"But I didn't think-" She began and Sasuke gave her a soft smile

"You never do." He said but this time he said it gently and her stunned expression turned into a glower and she changed her hand on his chest into a fist and thumped him with it.

"Bastard." Sakura said half-heartedly and Sasuke raised his eyebrows at her choice of words. "Well if that's it you can go now and I promise not to bring anyone else into existence." Sakura said firmly pulling away from Sasuke.

"You believed in a fairy tale," Sasuke said as if she hadn't spoken and Sakura frowned at him. "All that nonsense about a tall dark handsome stranger who's perfectly charming and ready to sweep you off your feet." Sasuke said.

"And instead I got you," Sakura said and Sasuke smirked at her.

"You're just not fairy tale material Sakura." He said and Sakura turned her back to him to stare out into the lit up courtyard.

"I resent that." She could feel Sasuke move up so he was standing directly behind her; she could sense his close presence in a way and feel the heat from his body she wanted to turn and feel the strong, steady beat of his new heart but didn't want to show any weakness to the insufferable man, he had already seen enough of them.

"Next time look for someone you can argue with. Someone who can at least try to argues back and someone who doesn't need to depend on you for status or financial support, or will just coddle you like that new guy. You need someone who can also stand on their own two feet but wants to spend time with you out of love and respect not a mutual desire to get rid of your loneliness, and someone who will keep on loving you through any hard times you may have. Someone who will give you as much happiness as you will give to him."

"I'll bear that in mind," Sakura said shakily. "Do you have anyone in mind for me than as you've already told me my date's useless."

"I believe my happiness depends on you." Sasuke said and Sakura went rigid. "And I believe that I'll be able to make you happy as well."

"I thought you hated me," Sakura whispered.

"The affection I held for you before still hasn't gone away, I don't think in ever will." Sasuke said flatly and Sakura turned to face him.

"Affection?" She asked. "You've insulted me in every possible way. You've made me cry over you more than I have for any other man before you. You've literally just told me I was believing in some stupid fairy tale. Some kind of happily ever after is what most people look for in their lives." She said indignantly and Sasuke shrugged.

"Affection, love, whatever it doesn't matter what it is, I still care about you that's all you need to know." He could see Sakura beginning to look offended again so he firmly placed his hand over her mouth to stop her from yelling at him. "This is the real world Sakura, a fairy tale ending isn't possible here. You'll find someone and you'll argue and disagree it won't all be sugary sweet but you'll still want to be with them." Sasuke took her hand in his free one. "What matters is that you have a real man in front of you telling you that he, _I_, may love you in my own way and that I want you. I want to be with you. Really with you this time." Sakura stared at him and he decided that it was safe to remove his hand from her mouth.

"Oh my God." She whispered. She gently pulled her hand out of his grasp and placed it over his heart again closing her eyes so she could focus on the rhythmic beat it drummed out. When she opened them again she could see all the affection, love even, that he held for her in his expression as he looked worriedly at her as she had yet to reply to his declaration.

Sakura moved forward moving her hand so she could wrap one arm around him pressing her ear against his heart and she smiled as she heard it speed up.

"Sakura, what?" Sasuke began but she shushed him and reached up with her other hand to push his dark hair away from his face.

"You are nothing like my ideal man." Sakura said flatly as she studied Sasuke's flat expression and she shrugged slightly before adding airily, "but I suppose, if you insist that there's aren't any fairy tales I'll have to stick with you.." Sasuke gave her a small smile and leaned down to press his forehead against hers and Sakura threaded her fingers through his hair.

"You're shit at romance." Sasuke muttered and Sakura shoved him as best she could at such a close proximity.

"Shut up, so are you what was that speech meant to be anyway." She said.

"Something that you'll never hear again." Sasuke said and Sakura giggled. Sasuke gave her a warm smile, similar to the ones he used to give her before he became truly Sasuke but it was somehow infinitely better and then he shifted forward to press his lips against hers. She felt him wrap his arms around her waist to draw her as close to him as possible, pressing against her as he seemed to try to show her the intensity of his feelings through one kiss.

Used to the soft, comfortable caresses of her previous boyfriends and indeed from Sasuke before he developed a life of his own Sakura was shocked by the passion she felt from Sasuke's actions and she found herself instinctively trying to return them she pushed herself against his chest and desperately tried to get as close to his as being clothed allowed, she tugged at his hair, every bit as soft as she remembered, and in response Sasuke bit her lower lip.

As similar as it was to other kisses it just seemed to feel more, well just more, Sakura mused as Sasuke continued to kiss away her ability to think. They broke away briefly to try and get some air before Sasuke pressed his lips against hers again and Sakura giggled slightly in his mouth.

It was strange Sakura thought although Sasuke may well be tall, dark and handsome that was the end to his resemblance to the mysterious stranger that girls dreamt of sweeping them off their feet but really she was beginning to thing she wouldn't have him any other way. And anyway he was wrong, for Sakura this was the best fairy tale ending there was.

* * *

END

* * *

Thank you to every one who has read and even reviewed this story.

I hope you enjoyed it and the end wasn't too mushy but I think I've remedied that with the next bit. After this chapter there's a little extra bit at the end that just came to me so I thought I'd add it on in a new chapter after this. It's really not much but enjoy!


	18. Chapter 18

Sakura pulled away from Sasuke as a sudden though occurred to her she kept her hands on his chest to push him away from her when he tried to move in to kiss her again.

"Wait a minute how did you know all that about my date anyway?" She demanded and Sasuke looked uncomfortable.

"Well..." Sasuke started and Sakura grinned.

"Were you following me?" She asked incredulously as Sasuke glared at her. "Were you jealous?" Sakura teased before kissing him on the cheek.

"Naruto told me a lot about him and that you were here and I had to see if it was someone who might steal you away from me." Sasuke insisted and Sakura found herself strangely touched by his actions. "But there was no chance of that." He added with a smirk but before Sakura could start arguing with him he began kissing her again, not that she was complaining too much.

But he was still an arrogant jerk.

"Wait." Sakura said pulling back again and this time Sasuke looked exasperated.

"What now?" He said.

"Does this mean that Naruto effectively set us up? I mean he is the reason we're together again." Sakura said and they both looked over to see Naruto grin at them and give them a thumbs up.

"He's going to be insufferable." Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah." Sakura said, "he looks smug already. We can never admit that he had anything to do with this."

"You could always punch him again." Sasuke said and Sakura wacked him in the stomach, although as close as she was it didn't really hurt. "What? I'm curious about that now, I want to know what happened."

"That is a story for another time I'm afraid." Sakura said "Let's get out of here and go somewhere else."

"Alright" Sasuke said and this time it was Sakura who took his hand and dragged him along behind her. For Sakura, it was a good feeling.


End file.
